Patterns of Health and Health Service Use in Construction (Revised);Final rept

摘要

In the United States, the cost of health care delivery for individuals working in the construction trades is theoretically covered by two different insurance systems-private insurance through an employer or union and workers' compensation. Although in theory these two systems are separate, and in combination they should provide comprehensive coverage, there are potential gaps and overlaps between them. Chronic diseases and ailments that arise gradually from exposure in the workplace are much less likely to be recognized through workers' compensation than events which are the results of acute injury. Little is known about the delivery of health services to construction workers. Union construction workers who receive their health insurance coverage through joint trustee health and welfare trusts may have lapses of coverage during periods of unemployment-which is not uncommon in the construction trades due to the very nature of the work. The purposes of this work included the study of overall rates and patterns of health care utilization among construction carpenters and laborers including health conditions of possible occupational origin; the magnitude of costs associated with their care; and the identification of sequellae of serious occupational illness or injury on health care coverage, utilization, occupational status and personal and family status. The goal was to compare patterns of care within subgroups of each of the cohorts and to compare care received under workers' compensation and private health insurance.