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Declines in Employer Sponsored Coverage Between 2000 and 2008: Offers, Take-Up, Premium Contributions, and Dependent Options

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Listed:
  • Jessica Vistnes
  • Alice Zawacki
  • Kosali Simon
  • Amy Taylor

Abstract

Even before the current economic downturn, rates of employer-sponsored insurance (ESI) declined substantially, falling six percentage points between 2000 and 2008 for nonelderly Americans. During a previously documented decline in ESI, from 1987 to 1996, the fall was found to be the result of a reduction in enrollment or ‘take-up’ of offered coverage and not a decline in employer offer/eligibility rates. In this paper, we investigate the components of the more recent decline in ESI coverage by firm size, using data from the MEPS-IC, a large nationally representative survey of employers. We examine changes in offer rates, eligibility rates and take-up rates for coverage, and include a new dimension, the availability of and enrollment in dependent coverage. We investigate how these components changed for employers of different sizes and find that declining coverage rates for small firms were due to declines in both offer and take-up rates while declining rates for large firms were due to declining enrollment in offered coverage. We also find a decrease in the availability of dependent coverage at small employers and a shift towards single coverage across employers of all sizes. Understanding the components of the decline in coverage for small and large firms is important for establishing the baseline for observing the effects of the current economic downturn and the implementation of health insurance reform.

Suggested Citation

  • Jessica Vistnes & Alice Zawacki & Kosali Simon & Amy Taylor, 2010. "Declines in Employer Sponsored Coverage Between 2000 and 2008: Offers, Take-Up, Premium Contributions, and Dependent Options," Working Papers 10-23, Center for Economic Studies, U.S. Census Bureau.
    • Handle: RePEc:cen:wpaper:10-23
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    File URL: https://www2.census.gov/ces/wp/2010/CES-WP-10-23.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. David M. Cutler, 2003. "Employee Costs and the Decline in Health Insurance Coverage," NBER Chapters, in: Frontiers in Health Policy Research, Volume 6, pages 27-54, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
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    4. Monheit, Alan C. & Vistnes, Jessica Primoff, 2005. "The demand for dependent health insurance: How important is the cost of family coverage?," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 24(6), pages 1108-1131, November.
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