A new study finds only 49 percent of workers in small businesses with fewer than 50 employees were offered and eligible for health insurance through their employer in 2010, down from 58 percent in 2003.

Larger firms are much more likely to provide health benefits. About 90 percent of workers in firms with 100 or more employees were offered and eligible for health insurance in both 2003 and 2010, according to the report from the Commonwealth Fund.

Low-wage workers in small businesses were the least likely to be offered and eligible for coverage: Just one-third of workers making less than $15 an hour in small firms were both offered and eligible to enroll in their employer's health plan, compared to 70 percent of small firm workers making over $15 an hour.

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