By David Slaughter, JD, Senior Legal Editor
For a Limited Time receive a
FREE Compensation Market Analysis Report! Find out how much you should be paying to attract and retain the best applicants and employees, with
customized information for your industry, location, and job.
Get Your Report Now!
According to a new study by the Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI), the proportion of small employers offering health coverage to their workers has declined, but not so with larger employers.
Between 2008 and 2015, the percentage of employers with fewer than 10 employees fell from 35.6% to 22.7%, EBRI found. For employers of 10 to 24, this rate dropped from 66.1% to 48.9%, and even employers of 25 to 99 saw a decrease from 81.3% to 73.5% during that time period.
Among larger employers, however, the percentage offering health benefits has remained high—around 99% for employers with 1,000 or more employees, and in the 92.5% to 95.1% range for employers of 100 to 999, according to EBRI’s study, which used data from the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey—Insurance Component. EBRI undertook the analysis to learn how health insurance offer rates had been affected by the ACA, as well as the Great Recession and the subsequent recovery.
These results defy many predictions that had been made regarding the ACA, that it would bring about a large-scale shift of workers from employment-based coverage to the ACA’s public exchanges, according to the report by Paul Fronstin, director of EBRI’s Health Research and Education Program.
However, he noted, even many larger employers have made “significant changes in the nature of their sponsorship, moving from defined benefit to defined contribution approaches that include more individual cost-sharing … and decision-making responsibilities; shifting to private health insurance exchanges; adopting wellness programs; and more generally supporting greater health consumer engagement.”
For the decline in small employer coverage, EBRI cited factors such as rising healthcare costs, the availability of exchange coverage and general “attitudes toward the ACA,” as well as the absence of a pay-or-play penalty for employers of fewer than 50. Other reasons included the overall economy, small companies’ greater vulnerability to premium hikes, and a less pronounced link between health coverage and worker attraction/retention at smaller employers.
|  David A. Slaughter, JD, is a Senior Legal Editor for BLR’s Thompson HR products, focusing on benefits compliance. Before coming to BLR, he served as editor of Thompson Information Services’ (TIS) HIPAA guides, along with other writing and editing duties related to TIS’ HR/benefits offerings. Mr. Slaughter received his law degree from the University of Virginia and his B.A. from Dartmouth College. He is an associate member of the Virginia State Bar.
|