Newswise — The proportion of U.S. private-sector workers enrolled in employer-sponsored health plans that do not require them to share the cost of their premium fell by a third between 1998 and 2004 " from 27 percent to 18 percent in 2004, according to the latest News and Numbers from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.
"¢ Only 35 percent of workers with single coverage were enrolled in such plans in 1998, regardless of the size of their company, but by 2004 that rate had fallen to 24 percent. Similarly, enrollment in no-contribution family plans slipped from 19 percent to 15 percent during the period. "¢ Workers in companies with fewer than 50 workers were much more likely than those in larger businesses to be enrolled in no-contribution plans. More than half (53 percent) of enrolled workers with single coverage in small firms were in contribution-free plans versus 14 percent of those in larger companies.
AHRQ, a part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, works to improve the quality, safety, efficiency and effectiveness of health care in the United States. The data in this AHRQ News and Numbers comes from the Agency's Medical Expenditure Panel Survey, a highly detailed source of information on the health services that Americans use, how frequently they use them, the cost of these services, and how they are paid.
For more information on this AHRQ News and Numbers see Trends in Employer-Sponsored Health Insurance Plans that Required No Employee Contribution to the Premium Cost, 1998-2004.
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