Issue Briefs

Health coverage: The likelihood a worker will or will not have employment-based health benefits depends strongly on the strength of the economy and the unemployment rate. For instance, from December 2007–August 2009, while the most recent recession was underway, the percentage of private-sector workers with employment-based coverage in their own name fell from 60.4 percent to 55.9 percent. However, by December 2009, when the recession officially ended, the percentage slightly increased to 56.6 percent. Press release.

Annuities: Building on the May 2011 EBRI Issue Brief, this article analyzes how changes in longevity annuity prices and longevity risk affect retirement income adequacy of retirees facing three different types of risk—investment income, longevity, and long-term care risk.

EBRI Notes Jun 21, 2011 20 pages

A new study by EBRI finds that if Baby Boomers and Gen Xers delay their retirement past the age of 65, many of them still would not have adequate income to cover their basic retirement expenses and uninsured health care costs. The research also shows that even if a worker delays his or her retirement age into their 80s, there is still a chance the household will be “at risk” of running short of money in retirement. However, the chance of success for retirement adequacy improves significantly as individuals reach their late 70s and early 80s. EBRI Issue Brief Jun 7, 2011 36 pages

IRAs: This article provides the first detailed IRA asset allocation information from EBRI IRA Database,^TM the only database that is able to anonymously link individual IRA owners across multiple IRA providers. Press release

CDHPs: In the 10 years that consumer-driven health plans (CDHPs) have existed they have tended to attract participants who are better educated, healthier, and have higher incomes than people in traditional health plans, but in recent years, the income differences have begun to narrow. Press release

EBRI Notes May 24, 2011 24 pages

For new retirees wanting to ensure they don’t run short of money in retirement, two products offer a source of guaranteed lifetime income: immediate annuities (which immediately begin to generate lifetime income) and longevity annuities (which delay payments until the retiree hits an advanced age, such as 80 or 85). New research by the nonpartisan Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI) finds that, generally, either type would be effective at reaching desired income adequacy targets—especially for lower-income retirees. EBRI Issue Brief May 18, 2011 36 pages

In yet another measure of damage from the recent economic recession, new data from EBRI show that 2009 marked both the sharpest one-year decline in employment-based health coverage for working-age Americans, and also the first time in recent history that less than 60 percent of individuals under age 65 had health benefits through their job. EBRI Issue Brief Apr 27, 2011 20 pages

Health Benefits: The future of employment-based health programs in the wake of the 2010 November election and the enactment of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) was just one of the topics addressed by human resource and health policy experts at EBRI’s 67th Fall policy forum last December.

Future Eligibility in DC Plans: New research from the nonpartisan Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI) shows that being eligible to participate in a defined contribution retirement plan at work is a key factor in whether workers will have enough money to afford basic expenses and cover uninsured medical care in retirement.

EBRI Notes Apr 21, 2011 20 pages

Retirement Plan Tax Treatment: New research by EBRI finds that lower-income workers are more likely than upper-income workers to say they would reduce their savings if the tax exclusion for employee contributions to retirement savings plans was lowered or eliminated.

Account-based Health Plans: Contributions from employers to workers’ account-based health plans declined for the second year in a row in 2010, according to new findings by EBRI. However, workers with employee-only coverage responded to the decrease from employers by increasing their own personal contributions; workers with family coverage did not increase their contributions.

EBRI Notes Mar 24, 2011 20 pages

In a sign that Americans are recognizing the realities they face about their chances for a comfortable retirement, the 2011 Retirement Confidence Survey (RCS) finds workers are more pessimistic than at any time in the two decades the RCS has been conducted: More than a quarter (27 percent) of workers now say they are “not at all confident” about retirement, up 5 percentage points from the level measured just one year ago. Reinforcing that trend, the percentage of workers saying they are “very confident” of a comfortable retirement ties with 2009 at 13 percent—the lowest rate ever measured by the RCS. EBRI Issue Brief Mar 15, 2011 40 pages

Women, younger individuals, and individuals who experienced an increase in either premiums or cost sharing are more likely to seek information on health care costs, quality, and access in order to make informed decisions, according to new findings by EBRI. Additionally, people with a higher level of education are also more likely than those with less education to research information. Press release Labor Force Participation: Elderly workers increasingly are participating in the labor force. Press Release EBRI Notes Feb 15, 2011 20 pages

Depending largely on age and income, between 4–14 percent of Americans who otherwise would have had adequate income to cover basic expenses in retirement became “at risk” of running short because of the housing and financial crisis of 2008–2009, according to a new report by EBRI. EBRI Issue Brief Feb 1, 2011 28 pages