Issue Briefs
Self-Insured Health Plans: Recent Trends by Firm Size, 1996-2016
Since the passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 (ACA), there has been speculation that an increasing number of small and midsized employers would convert their health plans from fully insured to self-insured plans. The rationale has been that several of the key ACA components—creditable coverage, affordability, essential benefits, and various taxes and fees—would drive up the cost of health coverage, thus possibly making self-insurance (which is viewed by many as generally less expensive than fully-insured alternatives) a more attractive alternative for many employers. While the percentages of smaller establishments with at least one self-insured plan did indeed increase between 2015 and 2016, self-insurance in large establishments declined. As a result, the overall percentage of enrollees in self-insured plans fell from 60 percent to 57.8 percent between 2015 and 2016. Read the full article and accompanying Fast Fact.
Has Enrollment in HSA-Eligible Health Plans Stalled?
Are we seeing fewer enrollments in HSA-eligible health plans? It’s hard to tell. Some surveys look at year-over-year growth of enrollment in HSA-eligible plans, which seems to be leveling off. Other surveys look at the number of health savings accounts being established, which continues to rise – for instance, EBRI finds that 21 percent of all HSAs were established in 2016. Are plan participants driving these differences as they change jobs and/or dis-enroll from HSA-eligible plans while maintaining ownership of existing HSAs and establishing new ones with new plans and / or new employers? What role does public policy play? )
Workers Rank Health Care as the Most Critical Issue in the United States
Workers rank health care as the most critical issue in the nation, according to new research from EBRI. The survey also finds that a majority of workers describe the health care system as poor or fair, though workers’ satisfaction in their own health plans remains high. Rising health care costs have implications for financial wellbeing among workers. Of the one-half of workers reporting cost increases, 26 percent state they have decreased their contributions to retirement plans, and 43 percent have decreased their contributions to other savings. The survey was made possible with funding support from the following organizations: AXA Equitable Financial Services, LLC, Cigna, Mercer LLC, Prudential Financial Inc., The Segal Group, Inc., and Unum Group.
Health Savings Account Balances, Contributions, Distributions, and Other Vital Statistics, 2016: Statistics from the EBRI HSA Database
The vast majority of health savings account (HSA) owners rolled over money at the end of last year, retaining HSA funds to cover future health expenses, according to new findings by EBRI.
After Years of Erosion, Mid-size and Some Small Employers Added Health Coverage in 2016
Despite predictions the Affordable Health Care Act (ACA) would cause private-sector employers to stop offering health coverage to their workers, the national “offer rate” is ticking up—possibly because of a healthy economy and low unemployment rates, according to new research by EBRI.