NEHIS Description

The National Employer Health Insurance Survey (NEHIS) was developed to produce estimates on employer-sponsored health insurance data in the United States. The NEHIS was the first Federal survey to represent all employers in the United States by State and obtain information on all plans offered to employees by their employers. The survey data provides an important benchmark for analyzing ongoing developments in the health insurance market in conjunction with more recent surveys.

The NEHIS was a national probability sample survey of business establishments (specific locations), governments, and self-employed individuals with no employees and no other locations. The survey also included a sample of health insurance plans offered by employers. Data were collected from approximately 39,000 employers in all 50 States and the District of Columbia. Information on health insurance plans was collected from nearly 47,000 health plans. The overall response rate for the survey was 70 percent. The survey was designed to produce State and national estimates.

Data collected in the survey provide baseline data by State on various aspects of employer-sponsored health insurance, including employees eligible for coverage and their take-up rate, type and number of plans offered to employees, as well as detailed characteristics of plans offered (monthly premiums, employer and employee contributions to premiums, deductibles, coinsurance, and covered services).