Issue Briefs

Reflecting the growing concern over health care costs and economic issues, American workers' confidence in being able to afford a comfortable retirement decreased over the past year by a rate unmatched in the 18 years of the Retirement Confidence Survey® (RCS), according to results released by EBRI. EBRI Issue Brief Apr 9, 2008 24 pages

Enrollment in consumer-driven and high-deductible health plans increased in 2007, but still makes up a small segment of the overall insurance market, according to the third EBRI/Commonwealth Fund Consumerism in Health Care Survey. Enrollment in consumer-driven plans with a tax-advantaged account was 2 percent of the privately insured adults in 2007. One in 10 insured adults had high-deductible health plans (HDHPs) without accounts. The survey also found the percentage of consumer-driven plan enrollees with high incomes (above $100,000) swelled in 2007. EBRI Issue Brief Mar 18, 2008 52 pages

The primary federal law governing employment-based health and retirement benefits is working as intended in preventing multi-state employers from potentially having to meet 50 different sets of health plan regulations, according to an analysis published by EBRI. The analysis reviews the history, intent, and major case law concerning the frequently debated Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) of 1974, which covers both employment-based retirement and health benefits in the private sector. EBRI Issue Brief Feb 5, 2008 16 pages

A relatively new health plan model that its advocates hope will control rising health spending could fail if key consumer education initiatives prove ineffective, according to a study published by the nonpartisan Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI). EBRI Issue Brief Jan 15, 2008 24 pages

What kind of work do you do? What is your income? Are you a man or woman? How many are employed at the firm where you work? Do you work full time or part time? Answers to these questions are key determinants of an individual’s likelihood of having health insurance, according to the October 2007 EBRI Issue Brief, published by EBRI. EBRI Issue Brief Oct 4, 2007 36 pages

Proposals to change the tax treatment of health insurance could mean the end of employment-based coverage as it now exists in the United States, according to a study by the nonpartisan Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI). EBRI Issue Brief Sep 14, 2007 28 pages

A U.S. Census Bureau revision of data for 2004 and 2005 caused a small reduction in the overall number of uninsured U.S. residents and slightly modified the demographic and work place composition of the uninsured, according to a study released by the nonpartisan Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI). EBRI Issue Brief May 9, 2007 28 pages

While the overall rate of uninsured Americans has increased in recent years, the percentage of workers offered health insurance and the percentage of workers taking coverage when it was offered have remained relatively steady since the late 1980s, according to a study published by EBRI. EBRI Issue Brief Mar 1, 2007 24 pages

Enrollment in consumer-driven health plans (CDHPs) remains low, satisfaction continues to lag when compared with more comprehensive health insurance, and CDHPs do not appear to be having an impact on reducing the number of people without health insurance, according to this survey by EBRI and The Commonwealth Fund. EBRI Issue Brief Dec 7, 2006 48 pages

The proportion of uninsured working-age Americans rose slightly to 17.9 percent in 2005, and the overall percentage of the population under age 65 with health insurance declined in 2005 to a post-1994 low of 82.1 percent. This Issue Brief provides historic data through 2005 on the number and percentage of nonelderly individuals with and without health insurance. It also discusses trends in coverage for the 1994–2005 period and highlights characteristics that typically indicate whether an individual is insured. EBRI Issue Brief Oct 3, 2006 32 pages