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EBRI

2013 Issue Briefs

“Views on Employment-Based Health Benefits: Findings from the 2013 Health and Voluntary Workplace Benefits Survey,” and “How Much Would it Take? Achieving Retirement Income Equivalency between Final-Average-Pay Defined Benefit Plan Accruals and Volun ..

Workplace Benefits Survey: Most workers are satisfied with the health benefits they have now and express little interest in changing the current mix of benefits and wages offered by their employers, according to a new survey by EBRI. Press release.

DB-DC: How generous would a traditional pension plan have to be in order to produce as much income as a 401(k)? New modeling from EBRI finds there’s no simple answer, but rather tremendous variation, depending on the different factors involved. Press release.

EBRI Notes Dec 19, 2013 24 pages

“2013 Health and Voluntary Workplace Benefits Survey: Nearly 90% of Workers Satisfied With Their Own Health Plan, But 55% Give Low Ratings to Health Care System,” and “How Does Household Income Change in the Ten Years Around Age 65?”

Health Care Satisfaction—While the vast majority of workers say they are satisfied with their own health insurance plan, more than half give low ratings to the American heath care system as a whole, according to a new survey by EBRI and Greenwald & Associates. Press release.

Household Income—Will Americans have to live on less after they turn age 65? It often depends on how much your income was before you turned age 65, according to a new report by EBRI. Press release.

EBRI Notes Sep 26, 2013 16 pages

“Retirement Plan Participation: Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP) Data, 2012,” and “Satisfaction With Health Coverage and Care: Findings from the 2012 EBRI/MGA Consumer Engagement in Health Care Survey”

Retirement Participation: Since the end of the economic recession, a higher percentage of workers are working for employers that offer retirement plans and a higher percentage of them are participating in the plans, according to a new report by EBRI. Press release.

Health Satisfaction: Americans with health insurance appear to be warming up to so-called consumer-driven health plans, even as the traditionally greater popularity of traditional health plans is slipping, according to new research from EBRI. Press release.

EBRI Notes Aug 28, 2013 24 pages

“Tracking Health Insurance Coverage by Month: Trends in Employment-Based Coverage Among Workers, and Access to Coverage Among Uninsured Workers, 1995–2012,” and “Decisions, Decisions: Choices That Affect Retirement Income Adequacy—EBRI’s 72nd Policy ..

Health Care Coverage: Although the economy continues to grow in the wake of the recent recession, the percentage of workers with health benefits is not following suit, according to a new report by EBRI. Press release.

Retirement Income Adequacy: A wide variety of internal and external forces influence the retirement readiness of Americans, and a recent policy forum sponsored by EBRI examined those factors, as well as a series of strategic and tactical decisions that can mitigate their impact. Press release.

EBRI Notes Jul 18, 2013 24 pages

“What a Sustained Low-yield Rate Environment Means for Retirement Income Adequacy: Results From the 2013 EBRI Retirement Security Projection Model,®” and “Use of Health Care Services and Access Issues by Type of Health Plan: Findings from the EBRI/MG ..

Low-yields and Retirement: As many retirees and workers have discovered, today’s historically low interest rates are crimping their retirement savings. Now a new study by EBRI quantifies the impact of a sustained low-interest rate environment on America’s retirement readiness. Press release.

Health Access: Whether it’s a “consumer-driven,” high-deductible, or traditional managed-care health plan, a significant number of people with health insurance report problems with access to health care services, according to new research by EBRI. Press release.

EBRI Notes Jun 25, 2013 24 pages

"Trends in Health Coverage for Part-Time Workers," and "IRA Withdrawals: How Much, When, and Other Saving Behavior"

Part-time Workers: Whether or not the federal health insurance reform law causes employers to hire part-time workers, the trend away from full-time employment is already underway, according to new research from EBRI. Press release.

IRA Withdrawals: Those Americans between ages 61 and 70, who are withdrawing money from their individual retirement accounts (IRA), are making withdrawals that are larger, both in absolute dollar amounts and as a percentage of their IRA account balance, than those taken by older households, according to a new report from EBRI. Press release.

EBRI Notes May 22, 2013 20 pages

“Characteristics of the Population With Consumer-Driven and High-Deductible Health Plans, 2005–2012,” and “Retirement Plan Participation and Asset Allocation, 2010”

Consumer-driven Health Plans: It is often assumed that consumer-driven health plan enrollees are more likely than those with traditional coverage to be young, because they use less health care, on average. However, that is generally not the case in recent years, according to new research by EBRI. Press release.

Multiple Retirement Plans: People who own more than one type of retirement plan are more likely to invest a higher percentage in equities (stocks) than those who don’t, according to new research by EBRI. Press release.

EBRI Notes Apr 25, 2013 20 pages

Mental Health, Substance Abuse, and Pregnancy: Health Spending Following the PPACA Adult-Dependent Mandate

When Congress added a mandate to the federal health insurance reform law requiring group health plans to offer coverage to workers’ children up to age 26, little was known about how the provision would be used. New research by EBRI finds the mandate was more likely to be used to treat adult children with depression, substance abuse, and pregnancy. EBRI Issue Brief Apr 11, 2013 16 pages

“A Little Help: The Impact of On-line Calculators and Financial Advisors on Setting Adequate Retirement-Savings Targets: Evidence from the 2013 Retirement Confidence Survey,” and “'Post' Script: What’s Next for Employment-Based Health Benefits?”

Retirement-Savings Targets: The use of online calculators and retirement advisors has been linked to higher levels of retirement confidence – and with justification, according to new research from EBRI. Press release.

Health Benefits: With key provisions of the federal health care reform law scheduled to take effect in the near future, what’s in store for the existing system of employment-based health benefits? That was the focus of the 71st policy forum sponsored by EBRI, which brought in some of the nation’s top health experts, including Assistant Secretary of Labor Phyllis Borzi. Employment-based health benefits remain the most common form of health coverage in the United States. Press release.

EBRI Notes Mar 31, 2013 28 pages

“Debt of the Elderly and Near Elderly, 1992–2010,” and “Employer and Worker Contributions to Health Reimbursement Arrangements and Health Savings Accounts, 2006–2012”

Debt of the Elderly: American families headed by individuals age 75 or older had increases in the incidence of debt, the average amount of debt held, and the percentage with debt payments greater than 40 percent of their income in 2010, according to new research by EBRI. The driver of debt for families with a head age 55 or older was housing debt. Press release.

HRA/HSA Contributions: A growing share of both employers and individual participants are contributing to their health reimbursement arrangements (HRAs) and health savings accounts (HSAs), according to a new report from EBRI. Press release.

EBRI Notes Feb 21, 2013 28 pages

"Views on Health Coverage and Retirement: Findings from the 2012 Health Confidence Survey,®" and "Tax Preferences and Mandates: Is the Danish Savings Experience Applicable to the United States?"

 Views on Health Coverage and Retirement: More than half of all workers say they intend to work longer than they would like in order to keep their health insurance at work, according to new research by EBRI. But less than 1 in 5 retirees say they were able to work longer to continue receiving health insurance through their jobs. Press release.

 

Tax Preferences and Mandates: A recent study found that tax incentives for retirement savings in Denmark had virtually no impact on increasing total savings But are those findings relevant to the United States? Maybe not, according to a new report by EBRI. Press release.

EBRI Notes Jan 31, 2013 16 pages