Staying in a job for the health insurance? About 1 in 4 Americans do, a survey says
News
Why do some people stay in terrible, horrible, no good, very bad jobs?
A new report finds that nearly a quarter of workers who get health insurance through their jobs report staying in unwanted jobs for health insurance — a figure that’s risen dramatically in the last five years.
The survey from West Health-Gallup Center on Healthcare in America finds that approximately 23 million adults are in what the report authors call “job lock.” In 2021, 16% of those surveyed were in job lock.
Details
“Anybody having to stay in a job just to keep their health insurance, knowing that they want to leave, is crazy,” says Ellyn Maese, a research director for the center, a partnership between Gallup and West Health. “That is a concerning figure, even if it’s 10%. But when we’re seeing it rise to 1 in 4 employees, that’s pretty serious.”
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The numbers are higher for people who are ill. Of working adults with three or more chronic health conditions, the report found that 41% were staying in their jobs for health insurance.
Analysis
This comes at a time when concerns about healthcare costs have been climbing. An April poll from the health research organization KFF found nearly two-thirds of adults are anxious about affording healthcare — tied for first with concerns about affording gas and transportation.
“Healthcare tops the list of economic worries right now,” says Larry Levitt, executive vice president for health policy at KFF. “So it stands to reason that people would be concerned about leaving an unwanted job for fear of losing their health insurance.”
Levitt was not involved in the new study from West Health-Gallup and says it fits with the picture KFF polls have found.
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