The growth in independent work isn’t showing any signs of slowing down. MBO Partner’s Annual State of Independence Report has this workforce population pinned at 72.1 million, about 45 percent of the U.S. workforce. The growth in this worker population demonstrates the increased value that workers are placing on freedom and flexibility and the increased utilization of their skills by companies looking to scale their workforces up and down as needed.

However, with an increase in people working flexibly, there also comes an increased need to make sure that they have the proper benefits and social safety nets in place. New research from Stride’s annual Health Insurance Accessibility Report analyzes the different healthcare challenges that independent workers and self-employed Americans face as compared to individuals with employer sponsored health insurance. This year’s report demonstrates a decrease in uninsured independent workers – down from 24 percent in 2022 to 19 percent in 2023.

This year’s findings also show while health insurance is more accessible and more affordable than ever before, independent workers are uninsured at much higher rates than the (more traditional) W2 employees — demonstrating a gap in perceived affordability.

 Independent workers think they can’t afford health insurance (based on their previous experience) even when over half of the respondents sharing paying $0 a month in premiums.

 The findings also shed light on independent workers' lack of “shopping” their health insurance to look for new plans each year that might better fit their healthcare or financial needs year-to-year. New prescriptions, changes in family medical conditions or changes in doctors should be considered every Open Enrollment when there’s opportunity to update plans.

And yet, two in five insured independent workers say they are simply enrolling in the same plan as last year or plan to let their insurance company or the marketplace auto-enroll them in the same plan as opposed to shopping around for plans that might better suit their needs. This is possibly the reason they are also more likely than full time employees to report feeling like their healthcare coverage does not cover their needs (21 percent).

While independent workers are more likely than their full-time employee counterparts to go without healthcare coverage, they still cite access to healthcare is among the topmost important benefits. It is the #2 most important benefit to all workers - both independent workers and full-time employees -– coming in right behind access to affordable childcare.

The study also looked at the general worker population as a whole and got their perspective on healthcare, it’s affordability and accessibility. We specifically looked at how age affects people’s perspectives.

Older people pay more for health insurance because they typically need more medical care. While federal rules limit how much individuals pay for Affordable Care Act (ACA) plans based on age, workers aged 55-64 are most likely to report not having health insurance due to affordability issues. More than three in four uninsured workers in this age group said they don’t have it because it’s not affordable.

If interested in receiving more information on the Health Insurance Accessibility Report, please reach out to press@StrideHealth.com.