Study Shows Rate of Employer-Sponsored Coverage Declining

The availability of employer-sponsored insurance has fallen by about 10% over the past decade, which has spurred an increase in the overall number of Americans without health insurance, according to an RWJF report released today. U.S. employers provided coverage for 159 million people in 2011, 12 million fewer than in 2000.. The report pins the reason for the decline on the decrease in total number of jobs available as well as insurance premiums that have more than doubled in some cases.

Key findings include:

• The percentage of non-elderly people with employer-sponsored insurance (ESI) declined 10.2 percentage points (PPs) from 69.7 percent to 59.5 percent over the study period while pubic coverage increased 3.1 PPs.
• While most states saw “significant declines” in ESI coverage, the range was wide—from New Hampshire (73.8% coverage) to New Mexico (48.0% coverage).
• ESI coverage varied by income. It fell less (2.8 PPs) for high-income groups (400% federal poverty level [FLP] or above) than for those with lower incomes (200 FPL or below) where the fall was 10.1 PPs.
• Nationally, the percentage of private-sector firms offering ESI fell from 58.9 percent to 52.4 percent(although the percentage of workers eligible for coverage at firms that offered ESI held steady). The take-up rate also fell from 81.8 percent to 76.3 percent. Small firms offering coverage declined (67.7% to 56.3%) while at large firms it remained essentially unchanged.
• Single-person premium costs doubled ($2,490 to $5,081); family premiums rose 125 percent ($6,415 to $14,447); employee contributions increased (17.5% to 20.8% of the total premium).

"There is wide variation across states in the ESI measures analyzed here,” the authors conclude. “This variation points to the importance of monitoring and evaluating the impacts of the ACA on ESI at the state level.”