Health insurance and work: Characteristics among multi-job holding farmers

Data regarding employment and health insurance coverage were examined among 1004 male farmers who held additional employment. Two-stage cluster sampling was used to select 60 of Kentucky's 120 counties, mostly rural, and then 8,271 farms. A random sample of these farmers were interviewed between June 1994 and August 1995 using a computer assisted telephone interviewing system. The 1004 participating farmers represents an 80% response rate. Though a large percentage of the farmers' income and time was related to their non-farm employment, the majority (68.7%) of respondents stated they would prefer full-time farm employment. Household expenses led the reasons for off-farm work, and obtaining employer-sponsored health insurance was listed as a primary reason by 54%. Lack of insurance coverage was independently associated with younger age (OR = 5.7, CI: 1.9-17.1, 30 yrs vs. 60 yrs), education (OR = 2.5, CI: 1.5-4.1, 12 yrs vs. = 12 yrs), and income (OR = 8.6, CI: 2.6-27, lower vs. upper 20%) by main effects logistic regression analysis. The study highlights the non-farm work and health insurance status of Kentucky multi-job holding farmers and demonstrates a relative lack of health insurance among certain groups of these farmers.