No drop in employer-sponsored health care since reform

Employer-sponsored health insurance coverage rates have remained unchanged under the health care reform law, according to a new survey.

Data released Wednesday by the Urban Institute, a social and economic policy research center, shows 83% of workers ages 18 to 64 reported being offered insurance coverage by their employers in March 2015.

That compares with 82.3% of workers with an offer for employer-sponsored coverage in June 2013, before implementation of the Affordable Care Act.

In addition, in March 2015, 87% of workers who were offered employer-sponsored insurance coverage accepted that offer, up from 86% in June 2013.

The Urban Institute also reported stable overall insurance coverage rates: 72% of all workers were covered by employer-sponsored health insurance in March 2015, compared with 70.9% in June 2013.

Moving beyond workers, 60.3% of all adults ages 18 to 64 had employer-sponsored health care coverage in March 2015, compared with 59.7% in June 2013.

The findings contradict concerns that ACA implementation would accelerate the ongoing decline in employer-sponsored coverage experienced between 2000 and 2012, the Urban Institute said in its report.

The Urban Institute said several factors should keep employer-sponsored insurance coverage stable in the future, including worker tax benefits derived from obtaining coverage through employers and the employer mandate, which requires employers with more than 50 workers to provide coverage.

Tax credits available to smaller firms, as well as the individual mandate, which requires workers to have coverage or pay a tax penalty, also create incentives for employer-sponsored coverage, the institute said.

The survey represented 7,500 nonelderly adults per quarter between June 2013 and March of 2015, the Urban Institute said.