Health Care vs. Job Mobility : Many Workers Stay On Out of Fear of Losing Medical Benefits
About one of four California families have a member suffering “job-lock” because he or she fears losing health benefits, according to a survey released Wednesday.
The study by the Kaiser Family Foundation found that 25% of people surveyed said they or someone in their family are unable to change to a better job because of insurance problems. The survey also found that people with employer-provided insurance are even more fearful that they will lose coverage than people in government programs such as Medi-Cal.
“This is what has transformed the health care problem into a mainstream, pocketbook issue, and not just a ‘social issue’ of the disenfranchised. (Employed people) are scared,” said Drew Altman, president of the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonprofit group, which surveyed 1,200 people June 3.
Mike Gomes, an insurance agent who lives in Merced, says his family is caught in job-lock. His 2-year-old son has a serious heart condition that has required $100,000 in care since he was born. The family depends on health insurance provided by Gomes’ wife’s employer, United Parcel Service, because Mike is self-employed.
“My wife is stuck. We couldn’t get coverage for my son if she changed jobs,” Gomes said. Although his wife, Becky, is happy in her job, she has had to give up her plans to become a schoolteacher because of their insurance dilemma.
While people with serious health problems or sick family members are the least able to change jobs because of fear of losing insurance, even people in good health may be less likely to start their own businesses or go into free-lance work because of concerns that health insurance could be unaffordable or even unavailable, health care experts say.
Many people fear that they will end up like David Gale. The Los Angeles man found that when he left a large firm to head a small motion picture production company, he couldn’t get private insurance at any price because he had a gastrointestinal ailment called Crohn’s disease. “It doesn’t matter how much money you make . . . if you’re like me. There’s an incredible expanding list of illnesses considered uninsurable,” Gale said.
Only because of a recently established state insurance plan for people with serious diseases will Gale have coverage. But that plan has a long waiting list, leaving many people without access to health care.
Job-lock is bad not only for employees, but for the economy as a whole, Altman said. The ability of workers to move into jobs that use their talents fully is considered an important element of economic growth. Not everyone sticking with a job for insurance reasons is as satisfied as Becky Gomes.
“Are people who want to change jobs but can’t (because of health insurance) your best employees?” Altman asked.
As many employers try to cut back on health benefits as costs skyrocket, a company’s level of insurance can be a big determinant of worker loyalty, say human resources specialists.
“We’re very fortunate. UPS is really family-oriented. It’s hard when somebody’s paid that much money to help your son to get up and leave (even if you could),” Gomes said.
The Kaiser survey also found that minorities are far more likely than whites to suffer from lack of health insurance and health care.
Thirty-two percent of African Americans, 21% of Latinos and 17% of Asian Americans in California reported there was a time last year when they needed medical care but did not get it, contrasted with 8% for whites.
The survey found that about 1.3 million uninsured Californians were denied health care in the last year because they lacked insurance or could not pay.
