Issue Brief No. 284 Employment-Based Health Benefits: Trends in Access and Coverage

This Issue Brief examines the state of employment-based health benefits among workers with respect to offer rates, coverage rates, and take-up rates. It also examines how the state of employment-based health benefits has changed since the mid-1990s, reasons why workers do not have employmentbased health benefits from their own employer, and how these reasons have changed since the 1990s. Fewer workers taking coverage: Between 1997 and 2002, the percentage of workers offered health benefits increased from 70 percent to 71.4 percent, and the percentage of workers covered by that health plan increased from 60 percent to 60.7 percent. Despite the fact that offer rates and coverage rates had increased, the percentage of workers taking coverage when offered declined from 85.7 percent to 84.9 percent. Reasons not covered: In 2002, 41.9 percent of wage and salary workers ages 18–64 reported that they worked for an employer that did not offer health benefits. Another 17 percent worked for an employer that provided health benefits but were not eligible for those benefits. More than 27 percent of workers reported that they were offered health benefits but they chose not to participate. Ineligibility: Just over 30 percent of workers not eligible for their employer’s health plan reported that they had not completed the required waiting period in 2002, while nearly 9 percent reported tha