Health Insurance Reforms: How Will They Affect Employment-Based Coverage in California?
April 2012, by Jon Gabel, Ryan Lore, Roland McDevitt, and Jeremy Pickreign

The objectives of this issue brief are: (1) to examine how insurance reforms required by the Affordable Care Act will affect benefit packages currently offered by California employers and (2) to estimate out-of-pocket expenses and actuarial values for households with employment-based health plans in California in 2010.

This survey, published every two years with grant funding from The California Endowment and The California Wellness Foundation, uses the latest data from the California Health Interview Survey (CHIS) to paint a comprehensive picture of health insurance trends, access, and coverage status for California's more than 37 million residents. Labor Center chair Ken Jacobs authored the chapter “Job-Based Coverage and the Individual Market.”

This joint publication with the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research and the California Pan-Ethnic Health Network finds that language barriers could deter more than 100,000 Californians from enrolling in the state's Health Benefit Exchange. The study recommendations include investing in linguistically and culturally appropriate marketing and outreach as well as investing in primary care and workforce diversity in underserved areas, among other actions.

Black and Latino Retirement (In)Security
February 2012, by Nari Rhee

This research brief finds that Black and Latino seniors face even tougher times in retirement than American seniors as a whole, based on data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Current Population Survey.

Meeting California's Retirement Security Challenge through a State Sponsored Retirement Plan: Policy Design Challenges and Options
February 2012, by Nari Rhee

This paper outlines key choices in developing a state sponsored retirement system for private sector workers in California who lack access to a workplace pension. The first section briefly outlines the rationale for the creation of a publicly sponsored retirement plan. The remainder of the paper explores critical plan design choices that policymakers face within the constraints and opportunities afforded by two fundamentally different types of plan architecture: individual accounts such as 401(k)s and IRAs, and cash balance plans, a type of defined-benefit pension that limits employer risk and shares some of the characteristics of defined-contribution plans.

Potential Impact of Governor Brown's Pension Reform Plan on Low Wage Workers
January 2012, by Nari Rhee

This paper outlines the potential impact of Governor Brown's public pension reform proposal on low-wage workers employed by state and local government, focusing on two elements. One is a "hybrid" pension proposal for new employees consisting of a smaller traditional pension benefit and a 401(k) type individual investment account. The other is raising the normal retirement age for new non-safety employees to 67. Low-wage workers are ill-equipped to bear the risks and increased costs of a 401(k) style plan, need to replace a greater portion of earnings than do middle- or high-wage workers in order to meet basic expenses in retirement, and begin their working careers much earlier, and experience shorter life expectancy, than professional workers. Because of these factors, the two reforms could impose disproportionate costs on workers at the bottom of the wage spectrum.

Newly Insured Californians Would Fall by More than 1 Million under the Affordable Care Act without the Requirement to Purchase Insurance
January 2012, by Gerald F. Kominski, Dylan H. Roby, Ken Jacobs, Greg Watson, Dave Graham-Squire, Christina M. Kinane, Daphna Gans, and Jack Needleman

The Affordable Care Act (ACA) requirement that almost all Americans purchase some type of health insurance coverage has been controversial. This policy note examines the potential implications of eliminating the minimum coverage requirement (MCR), or "individual mandate."

Proposed Regulations Could Limit Access to Affordable Health Coverage for Workers’ Children and Family Members
December 2011, by Ken Jacobs, Dave Graham-Squire, Dylan H. Roby, Gerald F. Kominski, Christina M. Kinane, Jack Needleman, Greg Watson, and Daphna Gans

Our latest report analyzes the proposed regulations defining affordable job-based coverage under the Affordable Care Act. We find that the proposed regulations would result in 144,000 fewer Californians having access to subsidized coverage in the health insurance exchange than would be the case under an alternative interpretation of affordability.

The Promise of the Affordable Care Act, the Practical Realities of Implementation: Maintaining Health Coverage During Life Transitions
October 2011, by Ann O’Leary, Beth Capell, Ken Jacobs, and Laurel Lucia

Americans’ health insurance coverage is not static; people cycle in and out of coverage and between sources of coverage, often during life transitions like losing a job, changing jobs, moving, or divorce. The Affordable Care Act creates an unprecedented opportunity to address the gaps in health coverage caused by these and other life transitions. Achieving the promise of the Affordable Care Act will require attention in federal regulations and actions by the new health insurance exchanges to ensure seamless coverage for those who rely on private insurance, including job-based coverage. This paper makes several policy recommendations to ensure that all Americans can maintain health coverage under the ACA–even during complicated life transitions.

The Wrong Target: Public Sector Unions and State Budget Deficits
» Press Release
» Press Coverage
October 2011, by Sylvia A. Allegretto, Ken Jacobs and Laurel Lucia

Ohio voters will decide “Issue 2” on Tuesday, November 8, 2011, a referendum on a law which limits collective bargaining for government unions in that state. As many as 12 other states have already enacted anti-union legislation. Proponents have justified the measures by pointing to the state deficits. This study, in collaboration with the Center for Wage and Employment Dynamics, analyzes the relationship between public sector workers, their unions, and state budget deficits.

Meeting California’s Retirement Security Challenge
» Press Release
» Press Coverage
October 2011, edited by Nari Rhee

This edited volume brings together rigorous academic and policy research to outline California workers’ retirement prospects in the context of threats to Social Security, the decline of secure workplace pensions, and the shift to risky individual investment accounts like 401(k)s. In California, less than one–half of private sector workers have access to an employer sponsored retirement plan, and nearly half of all workers are likely to have retirement incomes that place them in or near poverty. There is also marked racial and socioeconomic inequality in life expectancy among California residents that persists at retirement age. Fortunately, state level policies can make it easier for employers and employees to participate in cost–efficient and secure retirement plans for workers who do not have an adequate pension.

Economic Impact of Low Income Health Program Spending on Select California Counties
September 2011, by Laurel Lucia

This analysis projects the impact that the Low Income Health Program is likely to have on economic output, tax revenue and employment in nine select California counties: Fresno, Kern, Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, Sacramento, San Bernardino, San Diego and Santa Clara.

Economic Impacts of Early Care and Education in California
» Press Release
» Press Coverage
August 2011, by Jenifer MacGillvary and Laurel Lucia

Early care and education (ECE) is an important industry in California, serving more than 850,000 California children and their families and bringing in gross receipts of at least $5.6 billion annually. The industry not only benefits the children who receive care, but also strengthens the California economy as a whole. This paper discusses the range of economic benefits that the ECE industry brings to California.

New Data: NLRB Process Fails to Ensure a Fair Vote
» Press Release
June 2011 by John Logan, Erin Johansson, and Ryan Lamare

This study finds that current NLRB procedures, which grant employers significant control over the timing of the election process, can prevent workers from fairly choosing whether or not to have union representation.

Unemployment Benefits Critical to Jobless Workers and Economic Recovery in California
April 2011, by Sylvia A. Allegretto and Laurel Lucia

This policy brief explains why unemployment insurance (UI) benefits provide one of the most effective and efficient means to address economic woes imposed by joblessness. In California, UI helped approximately 1.5 million workers and their families afford basic necessities in 2009, kept nearly 500,000 Californians out of poverty, and resulted in spending that supported 161,000 jobs. Without this vital safety net, the severity of the economic crisis would have been deeper, unemployment would have been nearly one percentage point greater, state and local tax revenue would have been $1.8 billion lower, and the economic hardship faced by families would have been more severe.

Living Wage Policies and Big-Box Retail: How a Higher Wage Standard Would Impact Walmart Workers and Shoppers
April 2011, by Ken Jacobs, Dave Graham-Squire and Stephanie Luce

This study uses the most recent data available to update the 2007 report on the impact to workers and shoppers if Walmart increased its minimum wage. It finds that a $12 per hour minimum wage would provide substantial benefits to Walmart workers in low-income families, while the costs would be dispersed in small amounts among many consumers across the income spectrum.

Black Workers and the Public Sector: Racial effects of government layoffs
April 2011, by Steven Pitts

The standoff in Wisconsin highlights the fiscal crisis facing state and local governments across the country. Required by law to balance their budgets, politicians in state legislatures, school boards, and city councils are faced with the choices of cutting public services and laying off workers, raising revenue, or some combination of the two. They are deciding these choices in an economic context where the Great Recession caused the deficits and any deficit-reduction option exerts a drag on the recovery. Since January 2009, state and local governments have laid off 429,000 workers. As governments contemplate additional layoffs, it is important to note that few commentators have examined the racial implications of this reduction in government employment.

California Workforce, Education, and Training Needs Assessment for Energy Efficiency, Distributed Generation and Demand Response
March 2011, Donald Vial Center on Employment in the Green Economy, Institute for Research on Labor and Employment, University of California, Berkeley

The report was endorsed by California Public Utility Commission president Mike Peevey, Labor and Workforce Development Agency Secretary Martin Morgentstern, and Senator Loni Hancock (D-Oakland) in a press conference at the State Capitol.  The study was mandated in the California Long Term Energy Efficiency Strategic plan to provide recommendations to the CPUC and other agencies on the workforce strategies needed to achieve the state’s ambitious energy efficiency goals.

Maximizing Health Care Enrollment through Seamless Coverage for Families in Transition: Current Trends and Policy Implications
March 2011, By Ken Jacobs, Laurel Lucia, Ann O'Leary and Ann Marie Marciarille

This policy brief reviews the literature on the prevalence of uninsurance caused by work or life transitions, including loss of or change in a job, a reduction in work hours, divorce or legal separation, loss of dependent status, a disability or the death of a family member. The brief also provides initial recommendations for state and federal policymakers on how best to ensure seamless health coverage under the Affordable Care Act for individuals and families who lose health insurance because of a work or life transition.

Creating Good Jobs in Our Communities: How Higher Wage Standards Affect Economic Development and Employment
November 2010, by T. William Lester and Ken Jacobs

The most common and comprehensive policies used in creating jobs and raising the quality of jobs are business assistance living wage laws, which require businesses receiving public subsidies to pay workers wages above the poverty level. This report assesses the question of whether or not business assistance living wage laws reduce jobs and economic development activity in the cities that choose to pass them.

The End of the Recession? How Blacks Might Fare in the Jobless Recovery
October 2010, by Sylvia Allegretto and Steven Pitts

Recently, there have been seemingly contradictory announcements concerning the economy. In September another 95,000 jobs were shed as the unemployment rate remained at 9.6%. Unemployment has been at least 9.5% for well over a year now. About the same time it was announced that the recession, which began in December 2007, had actually ended in June of last year—thus we are several months into the second year of recovery. This brief provides some explanation and context in light of economy recovery amidst continued job losses and stubbornly high unemployment.

Eligibility for Medi-Cal and the Health Insurance Exchange in California under the Affordable Care Act
August 2010, By Ken Jacobs, Laurel Lucia and Dave Graham-Squire

This issue brief analyzes the impact that the federal health reform law will have on California. More than 4 million Californians who are without health insurance, covered in the individual market or enrolled in unaffordable job-based coverage, will be eligible for Medicaid or subsidized coverage under the law. A significant segment of the private insurance market, between 3 and 8 million Californians, will be eligible to purchase subsidized or unsubsidized coverage in the exchange.

The State of Black Workers before the Great Recession
July 2010, by Sylvia Allegretto and Steven Pitts

Congress has debated various policy measures aimed to restore the economy to its pre-recession track. However, simply ending the recession will not solve the job crisis within the Black community. Many analysts have noted that labor market distress—when properly calculated—among Black workers has been at catastrophic levels for decades. In the tough labor market of today, about one out of every four Black workers is underemployed, but even in good times the ratio was one in seven. Labor markets prior to December 2007 did not serve the Black community well; to the contrary, racial inequality in labor market outcomes was a central feature. This research brief documents aspects of racial inequality before the Great Recession.

New Approaches to Organizing Women and Young Workers: Social Media & Work Family Issues
July 2010, by Netsy Firestein, Deborah King and Katie Quan

This report includes highlights of interviews with 23 organizers about how they use new social media tools and work and family issues in organizing campaigns. It also includes recommendations that may help unions strengthen their relationships with women and young workers, especially with regard to the use of work and family issues and social media that might ultimately help unions be more successful in organizing.

The National Center for a Clean Energy Workforce: A Scoping Study
June 22, 2010, By Carol Zabin, Chris Benner, and Chris Tilly

Researched and produced for the California Energy Commission, this report examines options for the development of a National Center for the Clean Energy Workforce (NCCEW). The goal of the NCCEW is to help strengthen the capacity of California and other states to build a clean energy economy rooted in a skilled workforce with broad access to good green jobs, focusing on three broad sectors: renewable energy, energy efficiency, and clean energy vehicles. The report lays out three possible options for the focus of the center, discusses specific possible functions of the center, and lays out choices related to the structure and institutional home of the center.

Federal Health Reform: Impact on California Small Businesses, Their Employees and the Self-Employed
June 2010, By Laurel Lucia, Ken Jacobs and Dave Graham-Squire

This issue brief examines the impact that the health reform law will have on California small businesses, their employees and the self-employed. The law will make it more affordable for California small businesses to offer coverage by reducing administrative costs for small group health plans and offering $4.4 billion in health insurance tax credits over ten years. More than 1.6 million small business employees and self-employed Californians who lack affordable employer-based coverage will be eligible to enroll in Medicaid or purchase subsidized insurance in the non-group market. Small businesses with fewer than 50 full-time equivalent employees will be exempt from the proposed employer responsibilities and most California small businesses offering coverage will be minimally affected by the proposed health plan standards as they already offer qualifying health plans.

The Economic Consequences of Proposed California Budget Cuts
» Regional Economic Impacts (New July 2010)
» Press Coverage
May 2010, by Ken Jacobs, Laurel Lucia and T. William Lester

This policy brief compares the economic impact of the Governor’s 2010-2011 budget with an alternative budget approach that includes revenue increases. The Governor’s cuts-only approach would result in the loss of 331,000 full-time equivalent jobs, $36 billion in economic output and $1.9 billion in state and local tax revenue, mostly as a result of cuts to major health and human services programs that bring in significant federal matching funds. A mixed budget approach that includes revenue increases would result in half the reduction in economic output, save $1.1 billion in state and local tax revenue, and save nearly 244,000 jobs.

Raising The Bar: The Hunters Point Shipyard and Candlestick Point Development Community Benefits Agreement
May 2010, by Ken Jacobs

In May 2008, the Lennar Corporation signed a Community Benefits Agreement with the San Francisco Labor Council, the San Francisco Organizing Project and ACORN on the Hunters Point Shipyard and Candlestick Point integrated development project. The brief provides background on the CBA and discusses the major provisions in the agreement.

Analysis of Proposed Ballot Initiatives for City of Redding Retirement Benefit Reductions
April 2010, by Nari Rhee

This report analyzes some of the social and economic costs related to two initiatives proposed by the City of Redding, which would make significant changes in key retirement benefits that the City currently provides to eligible employees.

Budget Solutions and Jobs
» Press Coverage
March 2010, by Ken Jacobs, T. William Lester and Laurel Tan

This policy brief examines the economic impact of select solutions to close California’s budget gap. When it comes to employment and fiscal impacts, not all budget solutions are equal. Spending cuts for health and social services programs, such as In-Home Supportive Services, Medi-Cal, Healthy Families and CalWORKS, would result in significantly greater loss of jobs and state and local sales tax revenue, compared to equivalent revenue increases such as a tax on upper income households or an oil severance tax.

The President’s Health Reform Proposal: Impact on Access and Affordability in California
February 2010, By Ken Jacobs, Laurel Tan, Dave Graham-Squire, Jon Gabel and Roland McDevitt

This data brief, released jointly with the National Opinion Research Center (NORC) at the University of Chicago and Towers Watson, analyzes the impact that the President’s health reform proposal would have on California. Nearly 4 million Californians who are without health insurance, covered in the individual market or enrolled in unaffordable job-based coverage, would be eligible for Medicaid or subsidized coverage under the proposal. The proposal would also result in significant premium and out-of-pocket savings for low- and moderate-income families purchasing coverage in the exchange compared to costs in the current individual market.

Who Benefits from the Proposed Amendment to the Senate Excise Tax on Employer Health Premiums?
February 2010, By Ken Jacobs, William H. Dow, Dave Graham-Squire and Laurel Tan
» Article in Washington Post

This report examines the impact that the proposed Senate excise tax on high-cost employer health plans would have on union and non-union workers. The report finds that the vast majority of workers that would be affected by a tax on health benefits that cost more than a certain threshold are not covered by a union contract. Non-union workers would receive a much larger share of the savings from the reduced excise tax that was negotiated between the White House and labor leaders in January.

How would the Senate health bill affect U.S. workers employed at or near part-time?

January 2010, by Dave Graham-Squire

Under current language of the Senate’s health bill, firms are not required to provide coverage for part-time employees (defined as those working fewer than 30 hours a week). This may put workers who work just over 30 hours a week at risk for reduced hours by employers wishing to avoid penalties. In all, 28 percent of U.S. workers are employed at or near “part-time.” This brief also looks at the distribution of hours worked by industry and the prevalence of job-based coverage for full- and part-time employees.