Employer-provided health insurance protects wealth but reaches whites disproportionately

Evidence

Employer-provided health insurance provides a safety net against wealth depletion, guarding against huge medical bills and associated debt—or, alternatively, failing health because care is unaffordable, leading to missed work and job insecurity. While the majority of both white and black workers have health insurance through their jobs, the racial discrepancy is still significant—74 percent of white workers compared with 56.5 percent of black workers. — Dorothy A. Brown, The Whiteness of Wealth, 413

Categorization

• XREF: Pairs with the reader’s framework: employer-sponsored insurance is another facially neutral benefit that unevenly shields wealth depending on racial starting position.