In nearly every NLSY79 survey round, respondents who were employed were asked whether their current or most recent job provided health insurance benefits. Table 1, drawn from the employee benefits series, illustrates an increase in the proportion of respondents working in jobs that offer health insurance. In 1979, only 39.3% of respondents were in jobs with access to health insurance coverage. By 2022, the percentage rose to 82.3%.

There are a number of problems with using the employee benefits question series in the CPS and Employment Supplement to understand and track health insurance coverage. First, respondents who are not working are excluded from these questions. Second, not all health insurance is employer provided. Some individuals pay directly for health insurance, while others are covered by their spouse's or partner's plans. Lastly, while an employer may offer this benefit, workers might not participate in the plan and therefore may not be aware of its availability. To overcome these limitations, the "Health" section of the NLSY79 was expanded beginning in 1989 to directly ask about sources of health insurance coverage.

The "Health" section of the questionnaire in 1989, 1990, and 1992-2022 asks respondents if they are covered by a health plan. If the respondent answers "yes," the interviewer asks who pays for the plan. Responses include current employer, previous employer, spouse's employer, purchased directly, and Medicaid or welfare source. If the respondent is married, the same set of questions on medical coverage are asked about the wife or husband (and beginning in 1994, about the nonmarital, opposite-sex partner—the term opposite-sex was excluded in 2002—if any). Additionally, if the respondent has any children, the same questions are asked about the children's health insurance coverage. Limited information on periods of non coverage for respondents has been collected in most survey years since 1994.