This issue brief examines trends in health insurance coverage from 2007 to 2008, a period marked by the start of a deep recession. It finds that the share of the nonelderly population covered by employer-provided insurance declined, the share covered by public programs increased and the number of uninsured people continued to rise.

Notably, the economic downturn affected health insurance coverage differently for adults compared to children. The increased of 1.5 million in the number of uninsured adults was offset by a reduction of 800,000 in the number of uninsured children, owing largely to the increase in public coverage for children. As a result, the overall increase in the uninsured was 700,000.

Issue Brief (.pdf)