Premiums and Employee Contributions to Employer-Sponsored Health Insurance

MEPS Statistical Brief #527

Premiums and Employee Contributions to Employer-Sponsored Health Insurance by Workforce Age and Firm Size, Private Industry, a statistical brief from the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey, examines whether employer-sponsored health insurance premiums and employee contributions to employer-sponsored health insurance plans in establishments with differing percentages of employees over age 50 reflect these spending differences. Additionally, differences in premiums and contributions can be related to firm size. Small firms are less able to spread the risk associated with high-cost individuals and are more likely to have no employee contributions to employer-sponsored health insurance plan to increase enrollment.

Highlights

• In 2018, overall average employer-sponsored health insurance premiums in the United States were lower for single, employee-plus-one, and family coverage in establishments where the workforce was made up of less than 25 percent of workers over the age of 50 than in establishments where workers over the age of 50 made up a greater percentage of the workforce.
• Average employee contributions to employer-sponsored family and employee-plus-one coverage health plans were higher in establishments where the workforce was made up of less than 25 percent of workers over the age of 50 than employee contributions in establishments with a greater percentage of workers over 50. (This result was only significant at p<0.10 in establishments with 75 percent or more workers over the age of 50.)

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