An Employer Health Benefits Balance Sheet June 17, 2011 Perspective There seems to be growing interest in the question of how many employers will keep offering coverage to their full-time employees once the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is fully implemented in 2014, or instead will choose to stop offering coverage and pay a penalty. While there is some good analysis…
Health Coverage for the Unemployed June 1, 2011 Issue Brief This policy brief outlines the challenges facing the unemployed as they seek to remain insured after losing jobs and employer-sponsored health coverage. In May 2011, 13.9 million people in the U.S. were unemployed. Of these, 6.2 million had been unemployed for six months or more and faced limited options to…
Pulling It Together: Predictions May 20, 2011 Perspective I usually don’t make predictions, unless they are backed up by the kind of statistical modeling we often produce. But here are three predictions I am confident about that form the basis of this latest column. GROUP HEALTH INSURANCE PREMIUMS WILL CONTINUE TO RISE AT HISTORICALLY MODERATE LEVELS, AT LEAST…
Pulling It Together: What Conservatives Won In Health Reform (And Don’t Seem to Know It) April 13, 2011 Perspective Conservatives obviously don’t like what they call “Obamacare” because they think it expands the role of government too much and spends too much money. But ironically, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) actually promotes — though not explicitly — something that has been a fundamental objective of conservatives in health care…
Snapshots: Employer Health Insurance Costs and Worker Compensation February 27, 2011 Issue Brief Health insurance premiums have increased rapidly over the recent past, growing a cumulative 138% between 1999 and 2010 and outpacing cumulative wage growth of 42% over the same period.1 These figures, which have been widely cited to demonstrate the growing burden of health insurance costs on employers and employees, illustrate…
Boomers Come of Age: Covering Early Retirees and Other 50-64 Year-Olds January 24, 2011 Event The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act contains provisions that can help workers age 50-64 if they lose their jobs and their employer-sponsored health benefits, such as incentives for employers to maintain retiree benefits. This briefing, cosponsored by the Alliance for Health Reform and AARP, answered many questions about provisions…
The Health Workforce Dream Team: Who Will Provide the Care? December 2, 2010 Event Many providers and policymakers envision team-based care as an important way to improve quality and maximize resources. The “dream team” includes nurses and many other non-physician providers. But how will we ensure enough health care workers for a growing, aging population with ever-increasing chronic care needs? This December 2 briefing,…
Snapshots: Health Benefit Offer Rates and Employee Earnings November 15, 2010 Issue Brief Employer-provided health insurance is the primary source of insurance coverage in the United States, covering almost 160 million people.1 About 90 percent of the non-elderly privately-insured population is covered by employer-sponsored plans, meaning that employer decisions about whether to offer health benefits will influence overall rates of insurance coverage in the…
Snapshots: Trends in Employer-Sponsored Health Insurance Offer Rates for Workers in Private Businesses September 13, 2010 Issue Brief Most Americans receive their health insurance through their own job or the job of a family member; an offer of coverage at work is an important determinant of the likelihood of having private health insurance. This analysis examines the percentage of nonelderly, full-time adult workers (age 18 through 64) in…
Full Steam Ahead: Implementation Opportunities and Challenges for Employers and Consumers September 8, 2010 Event The new health reform law will significantly affect the way employers provide health coverage to their employees, and will transform many of the choices and protections consumers have in the marketplace. This briefing explored the major provisions in the law that relate to these changes. This September 8 briefing was…