Trends in retiree health insurance, 1997-2003

Health Affairs

Volumn 25, Issue 6, 2006, Pages 1507-1516

  Buchmueller, Thomas ^a   Johnson, Richard W ^b   Lo Sasso, Anthony T ^c  

^a UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN   (United States)

^b URBAN INSTITUTE   (United States)

^c UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT CHICAGO   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

AGED; ECONOMICS; EPIDEMIOLOGY; FEMALE; HEALTH CARE COST; HEALTH INSURANCE; HUMAN; INFORMATION PROCESSING; MALE; MEDICARE; RETIREMENT; REVIEW; STATISTICS; UNITED STATES;

AGED; DATA COLLECTION; FEMALE; HEALTH BENEFIT PLANS, EMPLOYEE; HEALTH CARE SURVEYS; HEALTH EXPENDITURES; HUMANS; MALE; MEDICARE PART B; MEDICARE PART C; RETIREMENT; UNITED STATES;

EID: 33845293223     PISSN: 02782715     EISSN: 02782715     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1377/hlthaff.25.6.1507     Document Type: Review

References (33)

1. R.W. Johnson, Health Insurance Coverage and Costs at Older Ages: Evidence from the Health and Retirement Study (Washington: AARP, 2006).
2. K. Pollitz, R. Sorian, and K. Thomas, How Accessible Is Individual Health Insurance for People in Less than Perfect Health? (Menlo Park, Calif.: Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, 2001).
3. Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation and Hewitt Associates, Prospects for Retiree Health Benefits as Medicare Prescription Drug Coverage Begins: Findings from the Kaiser/Hewitt 2005 Survey on Retiree Health Benefits, December 2005, http://www.kff.org/medicare/upload/7439.pdf (accessed 27 July 2006).
4. G. Claxton et al., Employer Health Benefits: 2005 Annual Survey, September 2005, http://www.kff.org/insurance/7315/upload/7315.pdf (accessed 27 July 2006).
5. U.S. Government Accountability Office, Retiree Health Insurance: Erosion in Retiree Health Benefits Offered by Large Employers, 10 March 1998, http://www.gao.gov/archive/1998/he98110t.pdf (accessed 27 July 2006).
6. Claxton et al., Employer Health Benefits.
7. Mercer Human Resources Consulting, National Survey of Employer-sponsored Health Plans: 2005 Survey Report (New York: Mercer, 2006).
8. S. Coppock and A. Zebrak, "Hearing: Finding the Right Fit: Medicare, Prescription Drugs, and Current Coverage Options," Testimony before the U.S. Senate Committee on Finance, 24 April 2001, http://www.senate.gov/~finance/ 042401sctest.pdf (accessed 27 July 2006).
9. P. Fronstin, "The Impact of the Erosion of Retiree Health Benefits on Workers and Retirees," Issue Brief no. 279, March 2005, http://www.ebri.org/pdf/briefspdf/0305ib.pdf (accessed 5 May 2006);
10. B. Stuart et al., "Employer-sponsored Health Insurance and Prescription Drug Coverage for New Retirees: Dramatic Declines in Five Years," Health Affairs 22 (2003): w334-w341 (published online 23 July 2003; 10.1377/hlthaff.w3.334);
11. and Johnson, Health Insurance Coverage and Costs.
12. KFF/Hewitt, Prospects for Retiree Health Benefits.
13. Johnson, Health Insurance Coverage and Costs.
14. Claxton et al., Employer Health Benefits;
15. and Mercer, National Survey.
16. C.L. Schur et al., "Paying for Health Care in Retirement: Workers' Knowledge of Benefits and Expenses," Health Affairs 23 (2004): w385-w395 (published online 13 July 2004; 10.1377/hlthaff.w4.385).
17. MEPS-IC was first fielded in 1996, but we begin our analysis in 1997. Survey methodology changes in 1997 make it difficult to compare the 1996 data to later years. Data from 2003 are the most recent available.
18. The 2005 Kaiser/HRET establishment survey collected data from 2,013 employers, for an overall response rate of 48 percent. Claxton et al., Employer Health Benefits.
19. All estimates, at both the establishment and worker levels, use MEPS-IC sample weights to adjust for sampling probabilities.
20. These comparisons might understate differences in offer rates by firm size, because some small establishments might be part of large firms.
21. These estimates are very similar to results from a 1993 survey of employers in ten states. See T.C. Buchmueller, J. DiNardo, and R.G. Valletta, "Union Effects on Health Insurance Provision and Coverage," Industrial and Labor Relations Review 55, no. 4 (2002): 610-627.
22. Our results were similar when we restricted our definition of unionized establishments to those in which at least 10 percent of the workforce belongs to unions.
23. C. Brown, "Equalizing Differences in the Labor Market," Quarterly Journal of Economics 94, no. 1 (1980): 113-134.
24. Coppock and Zebrak, "Hearing: Finding the Right Fit."
25. This effect is likely to be small, however. See T.C. Buchmueller and S. Ohri, "Health Insurance Take-up by the Near Elderly," NBER Working Paper no. 11951 (Cambridge, Mass.: National Bureau of Economic Research, January 2006).
26. In fact, we found that retiree health benefit offers did not decline over time for workers at unionized firms.
27. Claxton et al., Employer Health Benefits.
28. Bureau of Labor Statistics, "Government," 23 May 2006, http://www.bls.gov/iag/government.htm (accessed 14 July 2006).
29. R.E. Hurley et al., "Public Employees' Health Benefits Survive Major Threats, So Far," Health Affairs 25 (2006): w195-w203 (published online 18 April 2006; 10.1377/hlthaff.25.w195).
30. See A. McKethan et al., "New Directions for Public Health Care Purchasers? Responses to Looming Challenges," Health Affairs 25, no. 6 (2006): 1518-1528.
31. KFF/Hewitt, Prospects for Retiree Health Benefits.
32. Congressional Budget Office, "A Detailed Description of CBO's Cost Estimate for the Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit," July 2004, http://www.cbo.gov/ftpdocs/56xx/doc5668/07-21-Medicare.pdf (accessed 5 May 2006).
33. R.W. Johnson and R.G. Penner, "Will Health Care Costs Erode Retirement Security?" Issue in Brief no. 23, October 2004, http://www.bc.edu/centers/crr/issues/ib_23.pdf (accessed 5 May 2006).