The percentage of employees at large companies who were eligible for health insurance and who enrolled in plans fell from 87 percent in 1996 to 80 percent in 2004, according to HHS' Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

-- The steepest decline occurred among employees of large retail firms - from 81.5 percent to 69 percent.

-- Enrollment of eligible workers in other types of large, private-sector firms also declined, but more modestly.

-- For example, enrollment of eligible wholesale trade workers slipped from 92 percent to 86 percent and construction worker enrollment declined from 87 percent to 82 percent.

This AHRQ News and Numbers is based on statistics in AHRQ's Medical Expenditure Panel Survey Tables from the Establishment Survey of Employer-Based Health Insurance meps.ahrq/Data_Pub/IC_Tables.htm. MEPS is the nation's most complete survey of how Americans use and pay for health care.

AHRQ, a part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, works to improve the quality, safety, efficiency and effectiveness of health care in the United States.

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