2020 Employer Health Benefits Survey

We expect to release the 2021 Employer Health Benefits Survey on Wednesday, November 10.

This annual survey of employers provides a detailed look at trends in employer-sponsored health coverage, including premiums, employee contributions, cost-sharing provisions, offer rates, wellness programs, and employer practices. The 2020 survey included 1,765 interviews with non-federal public and private firms.

Annual premiums for employer-sponsored family health coverage reached $21,342 this year, up 4% from last year, with workers on average paying $5,588 toward the cost of their coverage. The average deductible among covered workers in a plan with a general annual deductible is $1,644 for single coverage. Fifty-five percent of small firms and 99% of large firms offer health benefits to at least some of their workers, with an overall offer rate of 56%.

Survey results are released in several formats, including a full report with downloadable tables on a variety of topics, a summary of findings, and an article published in the journal Health Affairs.

NEWS RELEASE

• A news release announcing the publication of the 2020 Employer Health Benefits Survey is available.

SUMMARY OF FINDINGS

• The Summary of Findings provides an overview of the 2020 survey results and is available under the Summary of Findings tab.

FULL REPORT

• The complete Employer Health Benefits Survey report includes over 200 exhibits and is available under the Report. The “Report” tab contains 13 separate sections. Users can view each section separately or download the section exhibits from the right side of the respective section page.

HEALTH AFFAIRS

• The peer-reviewed journal Health Affairs has published an article with key findings from the 2020 survey: Health Benefits In 2020: Premiums Inch Higher, Employers Respond to Federal Policy.

INTERACTIVE GRAPHIC

• This graphing tool allows users to look at changes in premiums and worker contributions for covered workers at different types of firms over time: Premiums and Worker Contributions Among Workers Covered by Employer-Sponsored Coverage, 1999-2020.

KEY EXHIBITS-CHARTPACK

• More than 20 overview slides from the 2020 Employer Health Benefits Survey are available as a slideshow.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

• Standard errors for selected estimates are available in the Technical Supplement here.
• Employer Health Benefits Surveys from 1998–2019 are available here. Please note that historic survey reports have not been revised with methodological changes.
• Researchers may request a public use dataset by going to Contact Us and choosing “TOPIC: Health Costs.”