Despite concerns that the changes introduced under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) would lead to a decline in Employer-Sponsored Insurance (ESI) coverage, the available evidence continues to show no changes in ESI offer rates, take-up rates, or overall ESI coverage for workers under the ACA.
In earlier work, we reported that ESI offer rates, take-up rates, and ESI coverage held steady across income levels and firm sizes between June 2013 and September 2014, a period spanning the implementation of the ACA’s health insurance Marketplaces and Medicaid expansions that followed a long trend of declining ESI rates.
An updated analysis shows those trends held through early 2015, after a full year of experience for employers and workers (Figure 1). Coverage, offer, and take-up rates were stable between June 2013 and March 2015 for workers in both small and large firms as well as for workers with higher and lower incomes. Employer-sponsored insurance coverage also remained unchanged among all nonelderly adults from June 2013 through March 2015.
While federal survey data providing estimates of employer-sponsored coverage post-2014 are yet to be released, private survey data support the finding that ESI has remained stable if not increased under the ACA. Studies of employers have similarly found no significant changes in offer rates or employee enrollment after the implementation of the ACA’s major coverage provisions.
Read the full report here.
Contact Steven G. Cosby, MHSA, Group Health Insurance Broker and Agent with Cosby Insurance Group, with questions or to request more information and to schedule a healthcare plan evaluation, savings analysis or group plan solution for your company.
