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America's disappearing health care
Despite the robust economy and several years of relatively stable health insurance premiums, U.S. employers have done little to expand health insurance coverage to their workers. In fact, those companies that provide coverage have started to shift more insurance costs to their employees, reduced benefits for mental health care, and limited assistance to retirees, according to a recent Kaiser Family Foundation report.
More stats Capital punishment Environment Homelessness Welfare reform Our booming prisons Disappearing health care Refugees worldwide Misc. stats While nearly all companies with 200 or more workers in 1999 offered health insurance benefits, just 60 percent of smaller firms did so—virtually the same level as in 1996, said the report by Kaiser Family Foundation, an independent health care philanthropic research organization, and the Health Research and Educational Trust, an affiliate of the American Hospital Association.
The failure of small- and medium-sized employers to add coverage is one reason the number of Americans without health insurance has increased from 39 million in 1994 to 44 million in 1998, employee benefits experts say. Though more Americans are working today, many of the new jobs do not include insurance benefits.
Health insurance premiums for all employers increased an average of 4.8 percent in 1999, the highest increase since 1994, according to the study, which was based on a survey of 1,934 public and private employers conducted last spring. But smaller employers (those with less than 200 employees), who have less negotiating clout with insurers, this year saw premiums increase 6.9, compared to a 2.1 percent rise in 1996.
Other key findings in the study:Employees paid on average $145 per month this year for family health insurance coverage, up from $52 in 1988.
Employees now pay 32 percent of the costs of family coverage, up from 29 percent in 1988. Employees opting for single coverage now pay 16 percent of the total cost, up from 11 percent in 1988.
During the past two years, 35 percent of large companies that offered retiree coverage capped their maximum contribution, and 7 percent dropped traditional indemnity coverage in favor of managed care plans.
About 41 percent of large companies provide retiree coverage, the same as in 1996.
About 21 percent of workers in large firms had unlimited outpatient mental health benefits, down from 36 percent in 1991.Salt news | In session | Stat house | Salt links | Idea exchange
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