Employer Sponsored Health Plans

Health Insurance Costs Are Growing Too Expensive for Small Businesses

March 1, 2024 - While small businesses know the advantages of providing health insurance, many employers are concerned about the rising costs of health benefits, with most businesses that do not offer health insurance saying it is too expensive for them to cover, according to a survey from eHealth. In January 2024, eHealth interviewed 560 small and mid-sized...

Read More


More Articles

How Affordability Challenges Reveal Care Disparities for ESI Members

by Kelsey Waddill

Employees in employer-sponsored health plans face significant care disparities based on income, sexual orientation, and race that influence health outcomes for each group, a report from Morgan Health...

OOP Costs Greater for Cancer Patients in High-Deductible Health Plans

by Victoria Bailey

Patients with cancer enrolled in high-deductible health plans had higher out-of-pocket medical costs compared to those in traditional health plans, according to a study published in JAMA...

2024 Employer Sponsored Health Plan Predictions: GLP-1s, Vendors, Data

by Kelsey Waddill

Employers are stuck between a rock and a hard place in 2024, with unsustainable healthcare spending in their employer-sponsored health plans and a reticence to shift any more of the cost to their...

2024 Payer Strategies: Population-Based Plans, MA Differentiation

by Kelsey Waddill

The new year may look remarkably like 2023 from the payer perspective with a similar set of headwinds, but payer strategies may change. Health insurers will build on last year’s progress in...

Most Employers Offering Retiree Health Plans Use Medicare Advantage

by Kelsey Waddill

Most large employers used to offer retiree health plans, but in 2023, only a fifth of them did, according to a KFF brief. Among those that do, many have turned to Medicare Advantage to supply these...

How Employers Can Promote Cardiovascular Care, Women’s Health

by Kelsey Waddill

Cardiovascular, diabetes, and obesity treatments are a critical part of women’s health, and employers can take steps to ensure that women have access to information and care related to their...

Employer Sponsored Health Insurance Premiums Grew by 7% in 2023

by Victoria Bailey

The average annual premium for employer-sponsored health insurance increased by 7 percent in 2023, a KFF survey revealed. The 2023 benchmark KFF Employer Health Benefits Survey included interviews...

3 Ways That Large Employers Influence Health Insurance Costs, Coverage

by Kelsey Waddill

Traditionally, health insurance companies have been the face of the payer industry, for better or for worse. But companies have incredible sway in the health insurance world, particularly large employers. Employers offer and manage...

UHC Commercial Plan Focuses on Price Transparency, Preventive Care

by Kelsey Waddill

UnitedHealthcare’s Affordable Care Act-compliant employer-sponsored health plan, Surest, is the payer’s fastest-growing commercial plan. Data indicates that Surest’s emphasis on price...

Employers Expect Highest Health Plan Benefits Cost Growth in 10 Years

by Kelsey Waddill

In 2024, experts anticipate that health benefits costs will increase 5.4 percent on average per employee, according to Mercer’s National Survey of Employer-Sponsored Health Plans 2023. Mercer...

Employers Grapple with Workforce Mental Health Needs Post-Pandemic

by Kelsey Waddill

Mental health has been a primary focus for employers following the peak of COVID-19. As the pandemic becomes more manageable, large employers are implementing strategies to address access to care, burnout, and quality of mental healthcare,...

Trends in Price Ratios Between Commercial, Medicare Advantage Plans

by Kelsey Waddill

Insurers often negotiate hospital prices for their commercial health plans that are up to five times the Medicare Advantage price, a study published in Health Affairs found. It was already a...

Top Member Education Strategies for High Performance Network Benefits

by Kelsey Waddill

As payers and employers gravitate toward high performance networks, there is a demand for better member education around these plans’ benefits. Regulators have expressed concerns that high performance networks will limit...

Members with Anxiety, Depression Face Higher Out-of-Pocket Spending

by Kelsey Waddill

Individuals with depression, anxiety, or both who are enrolled in large employer-sponsored health plans have higher out-of-pocket spending than individuals without such diagnoses, according to an issue...

Employer Sponsored Health Plan Enrollment Will Hit 159M in 2033

by Kelsey Waddill

Employer-sponsored health plan enrollment among nonelderly Americans will grow after 2025, accompanied by higher private payer premiums, a Health Affairs study found. The study used Congressional...

KFF: Over Half of Insured Adults Face Problems with Health Insurance

by Victoria Bailey

More than half of adults experienced problems with their health insurance, with issues ranging from payment discrepancies to limited mental healthcare coverage, a KFF survey found. The survey was...

AHIP: Most Consumers Are Satisfied with Employer-Provided Coverage

by Mark Melchionna

Conducted by LSG on behalf of America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP), a survey on the opinions of US consumers in 2023 found that many prefer to receive coverage from their employer rather than...

Loss of ACA Preventive Care Mandate Could Impact 10M Enrollees

by Kelsey Waddill

With the Affordable Care Act’s preventive care coverage requirement under scrutiny, Peterson-KFF researchers investigated how many Americans rely on the law’s coverage and determined that...

What Employers Need to Know About ERISA Compliance for Health Plans

by Kelsey Waddill

The Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) dominates the health insurance industry and regulates coverage for around 139 million Americans in 2.5 million health plans, making familiarity with ERISA compliance critical for...

Recent Articles