Farmer? Fisherman? You Probably Don’t Have Health Insurance

Outdoor Uninsured: If you work in agriculture, forestry, fishing or mining, you are more likely to go without health insurance than are workers in service and wholesale industries, according to a report released last month by the Employee Benefit Research Institute in Washington. Much of the information confirms what prior studies have shown: Income, company size, hours worked and race all contribute to whether a person has health insurance. White employees working full time for a large employer and making $75,000 or more are most likely to have health insurance. In 2006, one-third of uninsured families made less than $20,000, while 7.1 percent of uninsured workers made $75,000 or more. The percentage of uninsured workers was highest among Hispanic employees, at 36 percent. Among blacks, 21.8 percent were uninsured, while that number fell to 12.8 percent for white workers, according to the study. Thirty-six percent of the uninsured are farmers, fishermen and construction workers, compared with 22.8 percent in the service industry and 15.1 percent in manufacturing.