ABSTRACT
The annual Kaiser Family Foundation Employer Health Benefits Survey is the benchmark survey of the cost and coverage of employer-sponsored health benefits in the United States. The 2020 survey was designed and largely fielded before the full extent of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic had been felt by employers. Data collection took place from mid-January through July, with half of the interviews being completed in the first three months of the year. Most of the key metrics that we measure-including premiums and cost sharing-reflect employers' decisions made before the full impacts of the pandemic were felt. We found that in 2020 the average annual premium for single coverage rose 4 percent, to $7,470, and the average annual premium for family coverage also rose 4 percent, to $21,342. Covered workers, on average, contributed 17 percent of the cost for single coverage and 27 percent of the cost for family coverage. Fifty-six percent of firms offered health benefits to at least some of their workers, and 64 percent of workers were covered at their own firm. Many large employers reported having "very broad" provider networks, but many recognized that their largest plan had a narrower network for mental health providers.
Subject(s)
Benchmarking , Coronavirus Infections , Cost Sharing/statistics & numerical data , Health Benefit Plans, Employee , Insurance Coverage/statistics & numerical data , Pandemics , Pneumonia, Viral , COVID-19 , Health Benefit Plans, Employee/organization & administration , Health Benefit Plans, Employee/statistics & numerical data , Humans , Surveys and Questionnaires , United StatesABSTRACT
The emergence of Covid-19 in the United States has revealed a critical weakness in the health care system in the United States. The majority of people in the nation receive health care via employment-based health insurance from providers in a competitive market. However, neither employment-based health care nor a competitive health care market can adequately provide treatment during a global pandemic. Employment-based health care will fail to provide care for a large number of people in any destabilizing economic event, including a pandemic. Competitive for-profit health care systems distribute limited goods based on markets rather than health care needs. If a global pandemic results in unusually high demand for specific medical supplies, then these will be distributed suboptimally. The combined risk of suboptimal distribution of needed goods and a significant drop in health care access in a global pandemic indicates that the U.S. health care system has serious vulnerabilities that need to be addressed.