Issue Briefs

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

The percentage of working heads of families who participated in an employment-based retirement plan dropped more than 2 percentage points from 2001–2004, according to a study released by the nonpartisan Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI). Press release EBRI Notes Feb 8, 2007 12 pages

Over the 12-year period from 1992-2004, the majority of 65- to 75-year-old Americans appear to have started their retirement reasonably successfully in terms of income and total wealth, but some have not done as ell, according to a report released by the nonpartisan Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI). EBRI Issue Brief Feb 1, 2007 24 pages

Enactment of the Pension Protection Act of 2006 shows that Congress has endorsed the use of behavioral economics to lead individuals to make better decisions about retirement planning, according to a report by the nonpartisan Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI). EBRI Issue Brief Jan 16, 2007 20 pages

Health Insurance of the Near Elderly: Future retired adults 55-64 may experience an increase in the likelihood of being uninsured if employer cutbacks in retiree health benefits affect them and they have no other means of obtaining health insurance. Individual retirement accounts: IRA assets experienced their third consecutive year of growth in 2005, reaching a record high of $3.67 trillion, and are likely to become the single largest source of retirement assets outside of Social Security for private-sector workers in retirement, according to a report by the nonpartisan Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI). Press release EBRI Notes Jan 9, 2007 16 pages

A survey of the federal civilian work force shows that federal workers expect to retire earlier than American workers as a whole and say they have saved more money—but are almost as bad at planning for retirement as all workers, according to a study publishedby the Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI). Press release. EBRI Notes Dec 12, 2006 12 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

This Issue Brief examines the level of participation by workers in public- and private-sector employment-based pension or retirement plans, based on the U.S. Census Bureau’s March 2006 Current Population Survey (CPS), the most recent data currently available. EBRI Issue Brief Nov 2, 2006 36 pages

Rising health care costs are a primary driver of American’s increasing dissatisfaction with the nation’s health care system, the 2006 Health Confidence Survey (HCS) shows. Many Americans report that rising health care costs have hurt their household finances and believe that steps should be taken to slow the increases. Press release EBRI Notes Nov 1, 2006 12 pages

The summary plan description (SPD) is the primary source of information for workers who participate in an employment-based health care plan. This study finds that important information contained in many SPDs is written at a reading level that may be too high for the average plan participant. Findings suggest that fundamental improvements are needed in the readability of written SPDs, and that employers and plan administrators should explore the use of alternative methods of communication to plan participants beyond the written SPD. Press release EBRI Notes Oct 11, 2006 12 pages