Title: |
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Employer-Sponsored Health Insurance: Trends in Cost and Access |
MEPS component: |
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Insurance / Household Component |
Publication date (print version): |
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September 2004 |
Description: |
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The U.S. employer-based health insurance market provides insurance coverage to nearly two-thirds of the population under 65. This report from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality uses Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) data to provide information that decision makers can use in their efforts to make health insurance more affordable. The percentage of employees who work in a place where insurance is offered has risen in recent years. However, many employers require that employees work full time or go through a waiting period in order to be eligible, and the percentage of employees eligible to enroll where insurance is offered has gone down. Similarly, the percentage of employees who work where insurance is offered and actually enroll has declined. The cost of the employee contribution is a major reason for declining enrollment, and low-wage workers are more sensitive to the size of the employee premium contribution. Hispanics, young adults, and near-elderly working women with health problems were the groups most likely to be uninsured.
Other issues of this publication can be found on the AHRQ Web site at http://www.ahrq.gov/news/riaix.htm.
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Agency: |
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Rockville (MD): Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality |
540 Gaither Road Rockville, MD 20850