A new issue brief shows that the percentage of workers covered by employer-sponsored health insurance remained unchanged between June 2013 and March 2015 at just over 70 percent. The brief, prepared by Urban Institute researchers with funding from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Urban Institute, shows that despite early predictions that employers would stop providing employee coverage as a result of the Affordable Care Act, the percentage of workers with offers of insurance from their or a family member’s employer and the percentage of workers taking up their employer’s offer of insurance did not change after implementation of the health law.
In March 2015, 83.0 percent of all employees were offered health insurance through their employers, compared with 82.3 percent in June 2013. The percentage of workers who are covered by their employer, or who ‘take up’ the coverage offered, also remained relatively steady—87.0 percent in March 2015 compared with 86.0 percent in June 2013.
“Despite rumors to the contrary, so far it would appear that employer-sponsored insurance is holding steady,” said Kathy Hempstead, who directs coverage issues at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. “There are many potentially offsetting factors affecting employer insurance including an expanding economy and the individual mandate, as well as the new marketplaces, and it may take some time before the post-Affordable Care Act trend is discernible.”
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To speak with a researcher about the issue brief findings, please contact Frank Walsh at [email protected] or (504) 309-5164.
For more than 40 years the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation has worked to improve health and health care. We are striving to build a national Culture of Health that will enable all to live longer, healthier lives now and for generations to come. For more information, visit www.rwjf.org. Follow the Foundation on Twitter at www.rwjf.org/twitter or on Facebook at www.rwjf.org/facebook.
