Over the past five years, the share of working people who get health insurance coverage through their employer has dropped in New Jersey by nearly 9 percentage points--the largest decline in the US, according to a new report from the Washington-based Economic Policy Institute.

The report shows there are 307,555 fewer working men and women in New Jersey getting coverage from their employers than there were five years ago. The rate of decline nationally was 3.5 percentage points during the period covered by the report.

Five years ago, in only five states were a higher percentage of workers covered by their employers than in New Jersey; today there are 29 states ahead of New Jersey. If the trend continues, New Jersey Policy Perspective projects that within three years the majority of working people in New Jersey won't have coverage through their employer.

The report, The Erosion of Employment-Based Insurance, compares rates of insurance coverage in 2005-06 to 2000-01. New Jersey's rate dropped to 54.3 percent from 63.2 percent.

The full EPI report is available at:

http://www.epi.org/content.cfm/bp203

Its use is embargoed until 12:01 am November 1.

"The system that businesses wanted a generation ago is no longer serving the health care needs of working people," said NJPP President Jon Shure. "The evidence is piling up that we need to change the way people will get coverage. Neither state nor federal government can just sit and watch this situation worsen. Unfortunately, President Bush has no plan to address this growing problem and is actually making it worse my proposing cuts in the federal child health insurance program that could mean thousands of children and parents in New Jersey lose what health coverage they have."

New Jersey still ranks high in terms of all people under 65 having coverage from an employer (including their spouse's or parent's employer), but even here the trend is troubling: those with such coverage have declined by 3.5 percentage points. New Jersey's relatively high ranking today is less a positive development than a reflection of other states dropping even more.

The report, by EPI economist Elise Gould, makes a strong case for reform. "Clearly, there are many Americans who fall through the growing gulf between employer-provided coverage and government health programs," she concludes. "A universal system, one that provides a minimum standard of care to everyone, would provide Americans with access to the type of care appropriate for the most prosperous nation in the world. Taking insurance out of the job market and into the public sector has the potential to provide a stronger safety net, particularly in times of weak labor growth."

Employer-provided health coverage is what most Americans receive, as well as the type of coverage that has seen the steepest decline. About 59.7 % of Americans were covered by employer-based insurance in 2006--nearly 2.3 million fewer than in 2000.

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