Kaiser Family Foundation Survey: Health Insurance Deductibles Outpacing Salaries

This week the Kaiser Family Foundation/Health Research & Educational Trust (HRET) released its 2015 Employer Health Benefits Survey, an annual survey of employers that provides a detailed look at trends in employer-sponsored health coverage including premiums, employee contributions, cost-sharing provisions, and employer opinions.

The research found that single and family premiums for employer-sponsored health insurance rose an average of 4 percent this year, continuing a decade-long period of moderate growth. Since 2005, premiums have grown an average of 5 percent each year, compared to 11 percent annually between 1999 and 2005.

The study also found that the average annual premium for single coverage is $6,251, of which workers on average pay $1,071, and the average family premium is $17,545, with workers on average contributing $4,955.

Laurel Pickering, chief executive, Northeast Business Group on Health, and David Lansky, chief executive, Pacific Business Group on Health, weighed in on the research for an article written by Reed Abelson, a reporter for The New York Times.

Kaiser Family Foundation: American’s opinion of the health care law closely divided

The Kaiser Health Tracking Poll for April found public opinion of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) continues to be almost evenly split, with 43 percent reporting a favorable view and 42 percent reporting an unfavorable view.

Among the key findings, when asked what the next health care priority should be for the White House and Congress, 76 percent of Americans responded "making sure that high-cost drugs for chronic conditions, such as HIV, hepatitis, mental illness and cancer, are affordable to those who need them."

ACA 101: What You Need To Know

**Editing Note: This is an in-person briefing, not a webinar (as previously noted) and registration is closed.**

On Friday, March 6, from 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Eastern the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Alliance for Health Reform are hosting a briefing to review the Affordable Care Act (ACA).

Speakers will answer and discuss critical ACA questions, such as:

• What are the key provisions of the ACA? 
• How did the ACA extend coverage to the uninsured? 
• How does the ACA impact private and public insurance coverage, marketplaces and employer-sponsored coverage? 
• What is the role for states? 
• What are the requirements on employers and individuals? 
• How was Medicaid changed by the ACA and then the Supreme Court? 
• How is the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) affected?

Moderated by KFF’s Diane Rowland and the Alliance’s Ed Howard, Friday’s discussion will include:

• Jennifer Tolbert, director of state health reform, Kaiser Family Foundation, will provide a broad overview of the key provisions in the ACA, including private and public coverage provisions, quality and delivery system reforms;
• Sabrina Corlette, research professor and project director at the Center on Health Insurance Reforms, Georgetown University’s Health Policy Institute, will address the changes in private insurance, requirements on individuals, the creation of marketplaces and the implications of the King v. Burwell Supreme Court case on subsidies;
• Paul Fronstin, director of the Health Research and Education Program, Employee Benefit Research Institute, will explain employer-sponsored coverage and requirements; and
• Charlene Frizzera, senior advisor, Leavitt Partners, and former CMS acting administrator, will address the Medicaid and CHIP provisions in the ACA

Here's a link to registration information.

Kaiser Family Foundation: A Guide to the Supreme Court Argument in King v. Burwell

The Kaiser Family Foundation has released new materials examining the policy implication and legal arguments in the U.S. Supreme Court’s King v. Burwell case.

The Supreme Court is set to hear oral arguments on March 4. A new Policy Insight from the Kaiser Family Foundation's Larry Levitt and Gary Claxton explores the policy implications for consumers and insurance markets if the Court were to side with the plaintiffs in the challenge to the Affordable Care Act’s consumer subsidies. 

A second issue brief by KFF’s MaryBeth Musumeci, a policy analyst and an attorney, explains the legal arguments underlying the case.

At issue in the case is whether the federal government can provide premium and cost-sharing subsidies to consumers who buy insurance in states that do not establish their own ACA Marketplace and instead rely on a Federally-facilitated or Partnership Marketplace. In 2015, roughly 7.5 million people who have signed up for coverage in the 34 states that use the federal Marketplace qualify for subsidies, or 87 percent of all people who picked a plan in such states.

The new Policy Insight, Insurance Markets in a Post-King World, explains that a Court decision to cut off such subsidies would cause millions to go without coverage, make the vast majority of consumers who were receiving subsidies exempt from the ACA’s individual mandate, and disrupt insurance markets by leaving insurers with a sicker pool of people to cover and limited ability to generate enough premium revenue to cover health costs. In some cases, insurers may choose to exit the individual market in affected states rather than face significant losses, according to the analysis. Governors, state legislatures and Congress would face pressure to take steps to preserve subsidies, but there are political and logistical challenges to doing so quickly.

The issue brief, Are Premium Subsidies Available in States with a Federally-run Marketplace? A Guide to the Supreme Court Argument in King v. Burwell, walks through legal aspects of the case, from who the plaintiffs are to what each side is seeking from the Court and how this legal challenge differs from other ACA cases already decided by the Court. It also explains the legal test that the justices are likely to apply in the case and the potential actions the Court could take.

For more on health reform and the King v. Burwell case, visit kff.org.

Kaiser Family Foundation/HRET Annual Employer Health Benefits Survey

Annual premiums for employer-sponsored family health coverage reached $16,351 this year, up 4 percent from last year, with workers on average paying $4,565 toward the cost of their coverage, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation/Health Research & Educational Trust (HRET) 2013 Employer Health Benefits Survey released today. During the same period, workers' wages and general inflation were up 1.8 percent and 1.1 percent respectively.

This year's rise in premiums remains moderate by historical standards. Since 2003, premiums have increased 80 percent, nearly three times as fast as wages (31 percent) and inflation (27 percent). The survey of over 2,000 large and small employers shows that firms with many lower-wage workers (at least 35 percent earning $23,000 or less annually) require workers to pay $1,363 more on average toward family premiums than workers at firms with fewer lower-wage workers ($5,818 vs. $4,455 annually). The lower-wage firms on average offer less costly coverage too, creating a large disparity in the share of the premium that their workers pay (39 percent vs. 29 percent).

Employee wellness programs are a popular strategy for employers trying to control costs. Nearly all large employers (at least 200 workers) offer at least one wellness program, which can take many forms and target a wide range of conditions. More than a third (36 percent) of large employers who offer wellness programs offer some kind of financial incentive for workers to participate, such as lower premiums or a lower deductible, receiving a larger contribution to a tax-preferred savings account, or gift cards, cash or other direct financial incentives.

The Affordable Care Act Turns Three

Saturday,  March 23, 2013 marks the passage of three years since President Obama signed the Affordable Care Act (ACA) into law.  Much work has been done to implement the various provisions of the law, and progress is being made toward achieving the overall goal of increasing access to coverage for many Americans.  But much work is yet to be done, especially during this year as we ramp up to January 1, 2014 when the ACA insurance exchanges are due to go live.

As you may have seen in recent weeks, there have been a few new surveys showing that Americans still are not familiar with the various aspects of the law.  All health care stakeholders have a role to play in educating and raising awareness about what the law will (and will not) do.  As you celebrate the ACA's birthday, take some time out of your busy day to take the Kaiser Family Foundation's health reform quiz - 10 questions to test your own  knowledge about the myths and facts of the ACA!

2012 Kaiser/HRET Employer Health Benefits Survey

The Kaiser Family Foundation has released its annual Employer Health Benefits survey results, which provide a detailed look at trends in employer-sponsored health coverage, including premiums, employee contributions, cost-sharing provisions, and other relevant information. The survey continues to document employer's implementation of health reform with question on the percent of firms with grandfathered health plans and enrollment of adult children due to the new health reform law. The 2012 survey included 3,326 randomly selected public and private firms with three or more employees (2,121 of which responded to the full survey and 1,205 of which responded to an additional question about offering coverage). Researchers at the Kaiser Family Foundation, NORC at the University of Chicago, and Health Research & Educational Trust designed and analyzed the survey.  

The key finding is that workers covered by an employer plan at private firms contribute 30 percent of the premium for family coverage compared to their counterparts at public or non-profit firms who contribute approximately 23 percent for family coverage. While premiums on average are less expensive at private firms, employers contribute less towards the premium ($10,704 for family coverage) than do public ($12,381) and non-profit ($12,697) employers.  

Based on this information, coalitions may need to think about different strategies for working with their private sector versus public sector employer members.  

Kaiser Family Foundation 2012 Employer Health Benefits Survey: Family Health Premiums Rise 4 Percent to Average $15,745

Annual premiums for employer-sponsored family health coverage reached $15,745 this year, up 4 percent from last year, with workers on average paying $4,316 toward the cost of their coverage, according to the 14th annual Kaiser Family Foundation/Health Research & Educational Trust (HRET) 2012 Employer Health Benefits Survey. The survey includes 2,000 employers across all industries, geographies, and employee sizes.

This year’s premium increase is moderate by historical standards, but outpaced the growth in workers’ wages (1.7 percent) and general inflation (2.3 percent). Since 2002, premiums have increased 97 percent, three times as fast as wages (33 percent) and inflation (28 percent).

The survey reveals significant differences in the benefits and worker contributions toward family premiums between firms with many lower-wage workers (at least 35 percent of workers earn $24,000 or less a year) and firms with many higher-wage workers (at least 35 percent of their workers earn $55,000 or more a year).

Workers at lower-wage firms on average pay $1,000 more each year out of their paychecks for family coverage than workers at higher-wage firms ($4,977 and $3,968, respectively). This occurs even though the firms with many lower-wage workers on average pay less in total premiums for family coverage than firms with many higher-wage workers ($14,694 and $16,427, respectively).

This year's survey also starts to capture trends among employers as a result of ACA implementation. For example, the survey estimates that 2.9 million young adults are currently covered by employer plans this year as a result of a provision in the 2010 Affordable Care Act that allows young adults up to age 26 without employer coverage of their own to be covered as dependents on their parents’ plan. That’s up from the 2.3 million in the 2011 survey. In addition, the survey also finds that 48 percent of covered workers are in “grandfathered” plans as defined under health reform, down from 56 percent last year.

How much do you know about health reform?

The health reform law promises to deliver big changes in the U.S. health care system. But, as with other sweeping pieces of legislation, it can be hard to get the real facts about what it does. And it is all too easy for misinformation about the law to spread.


The Kaiser Family Foundation has developed a short, 10-question quiz to test your knowledge of the law, and then find out how you compare to the rest of the country.

Interactive health reform implementation timeline tool

To understand how and when the provisions of the health reform law will be implemented over the next several years, the Kaiser Family Foundation offers an interactive tool -- Implementation Timeline.

You can show or hide all of the changes occurring in a year by clicking on that year (and customize by topic such as employer, prescription drugs, quality, etc.).