Health benefits in 2005: Premium increases slow down, coverage continues to erode

Health Affairs

Volumn 24, Issue 5, 2005, Pages 1273-1280

  Gabel, Jon ^a,e   Claxton, Gary ^b   Gil, Isadora ^e   Pickreign, Jeremy ^c,e   Whitmore, Heidi ^d,e   Finder, Benjamin ^e   Hawkins, Samantha ^f   Rowland, Diane ^e  

^a CENTER FOR STUDYING HEALTH SYSTEM CHANGE   (United States)

^b Henry J Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF)   (United States)

^c HSC   (United States)

^d HSC   (United States)

^e Health Research and Educational Trust ^*

^f Health Research and Educational Trust (HRET)   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

ARTICLE; COST; ECONOMICS; FAMILY; HEALTH INSURANCE; INCOME; INSURANCE; UNITED STATES;

COST SHARING; COSTS AND COST ANALYSIS; FAMILY; HEALTH BENEFIT PLANS, EMPLOYEE; INCOME; INSURANCE COVERAGE; UNITED STATES;

EID: 27644547779     PISSN: 02782715     EISSN: 02782715     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1377/hlthaff.24.5.1273     Document Type: Article

References (14)

1. P. Fronstin, "Sources of Health Insurance and Characteristics of the Uninsured: Analysis of the March 2004 Current Population Survey," Issue Brief no. 276 (Washington: Employee Benefit Research Institute, December 2004).
2. In 2005 we updated our data to reflect the 2002 Census of Governments. In the process, we chose to remove federal employee counts from our post-stratification. Although this change had no effect on the number of government firms, it reduced the number of government workers in the weights by approximately seven million.
3. Premium increase figures are based on answers to two questions: "How do the total costs for family coverage compare with what they were one year ago?" and "What percentage did costs for family coverage increase (decrease) since last year?" There are no adjustments in the premium-increase figures for benefit changes.
4. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 3.5 percent, and workers' hourly wages increased 2.7 percent for this same period of time, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
5. See Bureau of Labor Statistics, "Table 4: Employment Change from Same Month a Year Ago, in Thousands, Seasonally Adjusted," ftp.bls.gov/ pub/suppl/empsit.tab4.txt (5 July 2005).
6. The change between 2004 and 2005 in the copayment for generic drugs is not statistically significant at the .05 level. Copayment changes for preferred, nonpreferred, and fourth-tier drugs were significant (p < .05).
7. The change in offer rate from 2004 to 2005 is not statistically different, but it is significantly different from 2000 to 2005 (p < .05).
8. The change in offer rate for firms with three to nine employees is not statistically different between 2004 and 2005, but it is significantly different from 2002 to 2005 (p < .05).
9. We do not report on larger nonoffering firms because we have a very small number in our sample.
10. A portion of this change is likely attributable to incorporating more recent census estimates of the number of state and local workers and removing federal workers from the weights.
11. G. Claxton et al., "What High-Deductible Plans Look Like: Findings from a National Survey of Employers, 2005," Health Affairs, 14 September 2005, content.healthaffairs.org/cgi/content/abstract/hlthaff.w5.434.
12. G. Mays, G. Claxton, and J. White, "Managed Care Rebound? Recent Changes in Health Plans' Cost Containment Strategies," Health Affairs, 11 August 2004, content.healthaffairs.org/cgi/ content/abstract/hlthaff.w4.427 (5 July 2005).
13. In 1997, KPMG Peat Marwick conducted the survey and limited the survey to firms with 200 or more workers.
14. See Claxton et al., "What High-Deductible Plans Look Like."