Employees with individual coverage in consumer-driven health plans are seeing their employers' contributions decline, while those with family coverage are seeing their employers' contributions increase, according to a survey released Tuesday by the Employee Benefit Research Institute.
The survey by Washington-based EBRI also found that the percentage of employers making contributions to either health reimbursement arrangements or health savings accounts tied to CDHPs dropped from 67% last year to 63% this year.
Between 2006 and 2008, the percentage of workers with employee-only coverage whose employer contributed at least $1,000 to either their HRA or HSA increased from 26% to 37%; but in 2009, it fell to 32%. Meanwhile, the percentage of workers with individual coverage who received an employer contribution of less than $200 increased from 3% last year to 8% this year.
By contrast, the percentage of workers with family coverage who received a contribution of $1,000 or more increased from 59% last year to 73% this year. Nearly three-quarters of workers with family coverage in a CDHP now receive an annual employer contribution of $1,000 or more, EBRI estimates.
Among other findings in the survey:
The report, which presents findings from the 2008 and 2009 EBRI/MGA Consumer Engagement in Health Care Surveys and the 2006 and 2007 EBRI/Commonwealth Fund Consumerism in Health Care Surveys, was published in the November EBRI Notes and is available online at www.ebri.org.
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