Issue Briefs

This new study by EBRI examines implications for employers and workers involved in capping the tax exclusion for employment-based health coverage, an issue that could come up during this year’s expected debate over overhauling the nation’s health care system. EBRI Issue Brief Jan 14, 2009 20 pages

Enrollment in consumer-directed or high-deductible health plans eligible for a tax-preferred savings account increased to 9.8 million adults this year, with participants more likely to have higher incomes and be in better health than those with traditional health coverage, according to survey results released by the nonpartisan Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI). EBRI Issue Brief Nov 18, 2008 44 pages

The percentage of the non-elderly population (under age 65) with health insurance coverage increased to 82.8 percent in 2007. While the percentage of the non-elderly population with employment-based health benefits was unchanged between 2006 and 2007, and the percentage with public coverage increased, resulting in a decrease in the uninsured, this should not be viewed as an indicator of things to come in 2008. EBRI Issue Brief Sep 9, 2008 36 pages

The current trend in health care design toward “consumer-driven” health plans illustrates the same trend seen in 401(k) plans where benefit decision-making and responsibility have shifted from the employer to the worker. This report looks at lessons learned in the retirement realm with respect to offering workers choice, financial incentives, and more information and education. This is compared with the early evolution of consumer-driven health plans, which are still being driven solely by the market and not by legislation. EBRI Issue Brief Aug 12, 2008 28 pages

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