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Table 1 Distribution of health insurance status across by socio-demographics and salary grade

From: Social health insurance contributes to universal coverage in South Africa, but generates inequities: survey among members of a government employee insurance scheme

Variable (n)

Uninsured

(342)

Privately Insured

(574)

GEMS

(408)

GEMS OPTIONS

Total sample (1330)*

Sapphire/ Beryl/Ruby

‘low-cost’

(67)

Emerald

‘mid-cost’

(305)

Onyx

‘high-cost’

(36)

  

Row %

Col %

Age

20–29 (141)

46.1

22.0

31.9

13.3

84.4

2.2

10.6

30–39 (402)

25.6

40.8

33.6

16.4

78.4

5.2

30.3

40–49 (468)

21.4

49.2

29.5

17.5

75.9

6.6

35.3

50–69 (314)

22.9

46.8

30.3*

16.5

62.6

20.9*

23.7

Gender

Female (778)

21.2

46.0

32.8

14.2

78.4

7.5

58.7

Male (548)

32.3

38.9

28.8

20.3

68.6

11.1**

41.3

Race

Black (858)

28.9

39.9

31.2

16.7

80.3

3.0

65.0

Indian (77)

13.0

52.0

35.1

21.3

69.3

9.3

5.8

Mixed ancestry (253)

29.3

40.3

30.4

11.1

70.4

18.5

19.2

White (132)

6.1

63.6

30.3*

10.0

50.0

40.0*

10.0

Marital status

Married/cohabiting (806)

22.1

48.3

29.5

16.7

73.0

10.3

60.6

Divorce/widow/separate (149)

22.8

40.9

36.2

24.1

59.3

16.7

11.2

Single (375)

34.4

33.1

32.5*

12.4

85.1

2.5*

28.2

Education

None-primary complete (168)

51.2

25.0

23.8

44.7

55.3

0

12.6

Incomplete secondary (102)

33.3

34.3

32.4

21.2

78.8

0

7.7

Completed secondary (184)

37.0

23.4

39.7

19.4

72.2

8.3

13.8

Tertiary (876)

17.6

51.8

30.6*

10.9

77.7

11.3*

65.9

Sector

Health (486)

35.0

34.4

30.7

17.8

76.7

5.5

36.5

Education (844)

20.4

48.2

31.4*

15.7

73.7

10.7

63.5

Province

Western Cape (343)

27.1

42.6

30.0

20.8

63.4

15.8

25.8

KwaZulu Natal (310)

27.4

41.9

30.7

13.7

83.2

3.2

23.3

North West (331)

18.1

53.2

28.7

18.1

76.6

10.2

24.9

Gauteng (345)

29.9

35.1

35.1*

13.6

76.3

10.2*

26.0

Household income

Median per month

Interquartile range

400

267–667

667

400–1333

547*

293–933

400

213–667

647

353–933

933*

400–1667

533

333–1067

Salary grade

Lower-skilled (168)

57.7

19.6

22.6

44.4

55.6

0

12.6

Skilled (246)

39.4

21.1

39.4

21.9

75.0

3.1

18.5

Highly skilled (709)

18.8

50.5

30.8

12.0

80.6

7.4

53.4

Management (206)

7.3

63.1

29.6*

6.7

65.0

28.3*

15.5

Total

 

25.8

43.4

30.8

16.4

74.8

8.8

100

  1. *P < 0.05. **P = 0.05–0.10. Sum of totals may be less than the total sample (1330) due to missing data