ACA Coverage Expansions and Low-Income Workers

Alanna Williamson, Larisa Antonisse, Jennifer Tolbert, Rachel Garfield, and Anthony Damico
Published: Jun 10, 2016

Appendix Table 1: Characteristics of Adult Workers (Ages 19-64) by Income Level, 2014
	All Workers	Workers Above and Below 250% FPL		Workers by Income Level
	All Workers	Low-Income Workers <250% FPL	Higher Income Workers ≥250 % FPL	Very Low Income Workers <100% FPL	Low Income Workers 100% FPL – 249% FPL	Higher Income Workers 250% FPL – 399% FPL	Highest Income Workers ≥400% FPL
Total Number of Workers (in thousands)	145,008	43,044	101,965	9,714	33,329	32,693	69,271
Age
19 – 34	36%	47%	31%*	53%	45%^	37%^	28%^
35 – 54	46%	41%	48%*	38%	42%^	47%^	48%^
55 – 64	19%	12%	21%*	9%	13%^	17%^	24%^
Gender
Male	53%	50%	54%*	44%	52%^	53%^	54%^
Female	47%	50%	46%*	56%	48%^	47%^	46%^
Race/Ethnicity
White	64%	49%	70%*	44%	51%^	62%^	74%^
Hispanic	17%	27%	12%*	30%	27%^	18%^	9%^
Black	11%	16%	9%*	19%	15%^	12%^	8%^
Other	8%	8%	8%*	7%	8%	7%	9%^
Education
Less than high school	8%	17%	4%*	24%	15%^	7%^	2%^
High school graduate	27%	36%	23%*	35%	36%	32%^	19%^
Some college	30%	32%	29%*	30%	33%^	33%^	27%^
Bachelor’s or higher	35%	15%	44%*	12%	16%^	28%^	51%^
Citizenship Status
Native born	83%	76%	86%*	73%	76%^	83%^	87%^
Naturalized	8%	8%	8%	7%	8%^	8%^	8%^
Non-citizen	9%	16%	6%*	20%	15%^	8%^	5%^
Health Status
Excellent/very good	69%	62%	72%*	59%	63%^	68%^	74%^
Good	25%	29%	23%*	30%	29%	26%^	21%^
Fair/poor	6%	9%	5%*	10%	8%^	6%^	4%^
Average Household Size	3.1	3.4	3.0*	3.5	3.4^	3.2^	2.9^
Family Composition
Single adult	22%	31%	18%*	34%	30%^	23%^	16%^
Married adults and adults living together	40%	24%	47%*	15%	26%^	39%^	51%^
Single parent with children	5%	11%	2%*	18%	9%^	4%^	1%^
Two parents with children	23%	21%	24%*	18%	22%^	24%^	25%^
Other families with children	9%	13%	8%*	15%	13%^	11%^	7%^
No. of Workers in Family
Multiple full-time workers in family	42%	17%	53%*	6%	20%^	41%^	58%^
One full-time worker in family	50%	64%	44%*	56%	66%^	55%	40%^
Part-time workers only in family	8%	19%	3%*	38%	13%^	4%^	2%^
* Indicates a statistically significant difference from low-income workers <250% FPL at p<.05 level. ^ Indicates a statistically significant difference from very low income workers <100% FPL at p<.05 level. NOTE: Data may not sum to 100% due to rounding. SOURCE: Kaiser Family Foundation analysis of the 2015 ASEC Supplement to the CPS.

Appendix Table 2: Employment Characteristics of Adult Workers (Ages 19-64) by Income Level, 2014
	All Workers	Workers Above and Below 250% FPL		Workers by Income Level
	All Workers	All Low-Income Workers <250% FPL	All Higher Income Workers ≥250 % FPL	Very Low Income Workers <100% FPL	Low Income Workers 100% FPL – 249% FPL	Higher Income Workers 250% FPL – 399% FPL	Highest Income Workers ≥400% FPL
Avg. Annual Income of Worker	$51,802	$20,593	$64,977*	$10,091	$23,654^	$36,262^	$78,529^
Average Hourly Wage (among those paid hourly)	$16.65	$12.86	$18.75*	$11.57	$13.16^	$15.99^	$20.59^
Weeks Worked per Year
Average	47.6	44.7	48.8*	38.0	46.7^	48.3^	49.1^
Median	52.0	52.0	52.0	50.0	52.0^	52.0^	52.0^
Hours Worked per Week
Average	39.5	37.0	40.4*	34.0	37.8^	39.3^	41.0^
Median	40.0	40.0	40.0	40.0	40.0	40.0	40.0
Work Status
Full-Time, Full-Year	71%	56%	77%*	32%	64%^	74%^	79%^
Full-Time, Part-Year	12%	17%	9%*	27%	14%^	11%^	9%^
Part-Time, Full Year	10%	14%	8%*	19%	13%^	9%^	7%^
Part-Time, Part Year	8%	12%	6%*	23%	9%^	7%^	5%^
Reasons for Working Part-Time (Among Part-Time Workers)
Job Related	36%	45%	31%*	51%	42%^	33%^	29%^
Child Care/Family	20%	18%	22%*	16%	19%^	21%^	23%^
School/Training	15%	15%	15%	16%	15%	15%	14%
Health/Medical	10%	9%	10%*	7%	10%^	11%^	10%^
Vacation/Pers. Day or Holiday	10%	6%	12%*	4%	7%^	10%^	13%^
Other	9%	7%	10%*	7%	7%	9%^	10%^
Employer Firm Size
Under 10	19%	25%	17%*	30%	24%^	18%^	16%^
10-49	14%	17%	13%*	17%	17%	15%^	12%^
50-99	7%	8%	7%	6%	8%^	8%^	7%
100-999	18%	16%	19%*	14%	17%^	19%^	19%^
1,000+	41%	34%	44%*	33%	34%^	40%^	46%^
Industry
Agriculture/ Service	31%	43%	26%*	50%	41%^	32%^	24%^
Professional/ Public Admin	25%	17%	28%*	16%	18%^	22%^	31%^
Education/Health	23%	19%	24%*	17%	19%^	23%^	25%^
Manufacturing/ Infrastructure	16%	14%	17%*	10%	15%^	17%^	17%^
Other	5%	7%	5%*	7%	7%	6%^	4%^
* Indicates a statistically significant difference from low-income workers <250% FPL at p<.05 level. ^ Indicates a statistically significant difference from very low income workers <100% FPL at p<.05 level. NOTE: Industry classifications: Agriculture/Service includes agriculture, construction, leisure and hospitality services, wholesale and retail trade. Education/Health includes education and health services. Professional/Public Admin includes finance, professional and business services, information and public administration. Manufacturing/Infrastructure includes mining, manufacturing, utilities, and transportation. Data may not sum to 100% due to rounding. SOURCE: Kaiser Family Foundation analysis of the 2015 ASEC Supplement to the CPS.

Appendix Table 3: Health Coverage of Adult Workers (Ages 19-64) by Income Level, 2013-2014
	2013			2014
	All Workers	Low-Income Workers <250% FPL	Higher Income Workers ≥250% FPL	All Workers	Low-Income Workers <250% FPL	Higher Income Workers ≥250% FPL
Health Coverage
Employer-Sponsored Insurance	68%	41%	80%*	68%	42%	79%*^~
Own ESI	50%	30%	58%*	50%	31%	58%*^~
Dependent ESI	18%	11%	22%*	18%	11%	21%*
Non-Group	5%	6%	5%*	7%^~	10%^~	7%*^~
Medicaid/Other Public	9%	18%	5%*	11%^~	23%^~	7%*^~
Uninsured	17%	35%	10%*	13%^~	26%^~	8%*^~
Expansion States
Employer-Sponsored Insurance	69%	40%	81%*	68%^~	39%	79%*^~
Own ESI	50%	29%	58%*	49%^~	28%^~	57%*^~
Dependent ESI	19%	11%	23%*	19%	11%	22%*
Non-Group	5%	6%	5%*	7%^~	9%^~	6%*^~
Medicaid/Other Public	10%	22%	6%*	14%^~	30%^~	7%*^~
Uninsured	15%	31%	9%*	11%^~	22%^~	7%*^~
Non-Expansion States
Employer-Sponsored Insurance	67%^#	41%	79%*^#	68%	45%^~#	78%*^#
Own ESI	50%	31%^#	59%*	50%^#	34%^~#	58%*^#
Dependent ESI	17%^#	10%	20%*^#	17%^#	11%	20%*^#
Non-Group	5%	6%	5%*	8%^~#	10%^~	7%*^~
Medicaid/Other Public	8%^#	14%^#	5%*	8%^#	15%^#	6%*^#
Uninsured	19%^#	39%^#	11%*^#	16%^~#	30%^~#	9%*^~#
* Indicates a statistically significant difference from low-income workers <250% FPL within the same year at p<.05 level. ~ Indicates a statistically significant difference from 2013 health insurance coverage at p<.05 level. # Indicates a statistically significant difference from coverage in Medicaid expansion states within the same year at p<.05 level. NOTE: In this table, Medicaid expansion states include the 27 states (including DC) that adopted the Medicaid expansion in 2014. Five additional states have adopted the Medicaid expansion since 2014, including Pennsylvania, Indiana, Alaska, Montana, and Louisiana. Wisconsin covers adults up to 100% FPL in Medicaid but did not adopt the Medicaid Expansion. Data may not sum to 100% due to rounding. SOURCE: Kaiser Family Foundation analysis of the 2014 and 2015 ASEC Supplements to the CPS.

Appendix Table 4: Eligibility for ACA Health Coverage Among Uninsured Adult Workers (Ages 19-64), 2015
	Total Uninsured Workers	Uninsured Low-Income Workers <250% FPL	Uninsured Higher Income Workers ≥250 % FPL
Uninsured Workers
Medicaid Eligible	16%	23%	5%*
Tax Credit Eligible	27%	31%	22%*
In the Coverage Gap	7%	12%	2%*
Ineligible for Coverage due to Immigration Status	17%	22%	10%*
Ineligible for Financial Assistance due to ESI Offer	19%	11%	30%*
Ineligible for Financial Assistance due to Income	14%	2%	31%*
Uninsured Workers in Medicaid Expansion States
Medicaid Eligible	27%	41%	9%*
Tax Credit Eligible	23%	25%	21%*
In the Coverage Gap	N/A	N/A	N/A
Ineligible for Coverage due to Immigration Status	18%	23%	11%*
Ineligible for Financial Assistance due to ESI Offer	18%	9%	29%*
Ineligible for Financial Assistance due to Income	14%	2%	31%*
Uninsured Workers in Non-Expansion States
Medicaid Eligible	2%^~	3%^~	0%*^~
Tax Credit Eligible	32%^~	37%^~	25%*^~
In the Coverage Gap	16%^~	24%^~	4%*^~
Ineligible for Coverage due to Immigration Status	16%	21%	10%*
Ineligible for Financial Assistance due to ESI Offer	20%^~	13%^~	31%*
Ineligible for Financial Assistance due to Income	13%	2%	30%*
* Indicates a statistically significant difference from uninsured low-income workers <250% FPL at p<.05 level. ~ Indicates a statistically significant difference from eligibility for coverage in Medicaid expansion states at p<.05 level. NOTES: In this table, Medicaid expansion states include the 32 states (including DC) that have adopted the Medicaid expansion as of April 2016. Wisconsin covers adults up to 100% FPL in Medicaid but did not adopt the Medicaid Expansion. Tax credit eligible includes individuals eligible for the Basic Health Plan. Income eligibility for both Medicaid and Marketplace subsidies is assessed by grouping people into “health insurance units” (HIUs) and calculating HIU income according to Medicaid and Marketplace program rules. HIUs differ from Census families, which are used to determine household income. This distinction results in a small number of workers that reside in higher income households falling into the coverage gap. Data may not sum to 100% due to rounding. SOURCE: Kaiser Family Foundation analysis based on 2015 Medicaid eligibility levels updated to reflect state Medicaid expansion decisions as of April 2016 and 2015 ASEC Supplement to the CPS.

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