People in fair or poor health who have health insurance are less likely to drop or lose coverage if they have individual insurance than if they have small-group coverage, according to a study from Mark Pauly and Robert Lieberthal of Wharton.

In particular, the study found that among workers in relatively worse health, those with small-group coverage who became unemployed were substantially more likely to also become uninsured than their counterparts with individual coverage.

Among those with small-group coverage, 67% of workers in fair or poor health who became unemployed also became uninsured, while among those with individual coverage, only 9% of workers in fair or poor health who became unemployed also became uninsured, according to the study.

The authors say this result stems largely from a unique policy feature generally included in individual health insurance policies: guaranteed renewability at class-average rates.