The Construction Industry and Uncompensated Health Care

Abstract

The objective of this study is to illuminate the relationship between employment-based health insurance and uncompensated health care costs, with particular emphasis on the construction industry and on differences between non-Hispanic and Hispanic workers. The findings suggest that the organization of work in the construction industry leads to comparatively low rates of employment-based health insurance, especially among non-union workers and those reporting Hispanic ethnicity. Furthermore, data from a major urban hospital and its constellation of clinics shows that the lack of insurance coincides with a disproportionate use of uncompensated health care among construction workers. Such a disproportionate use of uncompensated care is a concrete example of how employers in industries such as construction pass costs of health care onto communities and their workers.