Coverage Gaps Highlighted Among Contract Workers
Unionized security officers and airport workers are mounting a new push for affordable health insurance, with many currently either going uninsured or turning to public insurance as a result of their employers offering pricey plans, according to a new report from a labor union and MassBudget.
Survey Details and Workforce Demographics
The report captured the insurance landscape for 3,200 contracted security officers based out of Greater Boston offices, labs and universities, as well as 2,500 contracted service workers at Boston Logan International Airport. The workers are largely immigrants and people of color, and their plight points to deeper disparities in healthcare access and affordability, according to 32BJ SEIU and MassBudget.
The report found 33% of 32BJ security officers and 27% of 32BJ airport workers are covered by their employer plans. While the commonwealth’s uninsured rate hovers around 2%, 15% of 32BJ security officers and 30% of 32BJ airport workers are uninsured. For security officers who are enrolled in employer coverage, 16% struggled to meet their healthcare needs.
Affordability and Coverage Quality Concerns
“Although employer-sponsored healthcare is available to all full-time 32BJ-represented security officers and airport service workers, many report that the plans offered by their employers are prohibitively expensive, offer low quality coverage, or both,” the report says. “As a result, many of them rely on MassHealth or subsidized Health Connector plans, or they go without coverage altogether.”
32BJ said it’s supporting those members fight to “win employer-paid, quality health insurance, either in their contract (security) or through an airport-wide mandate (airports).” The workers plan to rally in Copley Square Thursday afternoon.
State Coverage Requirements and Eligibility Limits
All Bay Staters must have health insurance or face a tax penalty. Low-income residents can qualify for MassHealth or subsidized ConnectorCare programs, but not if their jobs offer plans that meet coverage and affordability standards. The uninsured rates among 32BJ workers “suggest that many view the coverage available to them as too expensive or too limited to justify enrollment,” the report said.
