Labor Market Segmentation, Race, and Health Insurance Coverage.

In the United States blacks have higher death rates than whites, net of age and sex. This difference, the black-white death gap, reflects the difference in health insurance coverage and access to health care. We use data from the 2013 Annual and Economic Survey to examine black-white differences in health insurance coverage nationwide and in the American South. More than one out of five blacks in the U.S. and one out of four blacks in the South do not have health insurance from any source. We also examine the employment histories, health insurance coverage, and health care utilization of 148 black adults selected from high poverty neighborhoods in Mobile County, Alabama using a two-stage cluster sample. Approximately 95% of the study participants are employed, or have been employed in the past. Survival analysis estimates indicate that over their life course approximately 44% of this population never obtains a job that provides them with health insurance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]