Gender impacts on health insurance coverage: Findings for unmarried full-time employees

Probit regression is applied to a sample of fully employed unmarried respon dents from the 1996 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey to determine the likel ihood of private health insurance vs, no insurance coverage. Gender-related employment segregation is a strong indicator for insurance coverage, since those in male-dominated industries are more likely to have coverage. The s trong impact of unions and number of plans offered on insurance coverage su ggests that insurance purchasing cooperatives and managed competition may i ncrease availability of affordable coverage, thus alleviating some of the f inancial barriers to health care.