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Employer Sponsored Health Insurance

In the United States and other countries that do not have national health systems, employers often offer health insurance as a benefit to employees. RAND has examined how employer-sponsored health insurance impacts economic and social factors such as entrepreneurs and small businesses, national-level health care costs, industry economic performance, and labor market conditions.

Commentary
Your Health Insurance May Not Be As Good As Your State Requires—and It's Perfectly Legal
Massachusetts has a law to ensure ease of access to birth control pills, saying there should be no copays and women can fill a 12-month prescription at once. Infertility care has similar protections. But many health plans don't have to comply with state laws because they are “self-insured.”
Jun 9, 2023
Testimony
Health Care Affordability: State Policy Options to Control Costs
When the costs to provide employer-sponsored health insurance increase, it burdens workers and their families. What are some potential policy options to address these high costs, particularly in markets like Texas where 48 percent of people have health insurance through an employer or union?
Aug 4, 2022
Report
Private Health Plans Paid Hospitals 224 Percent of What Medicare Would Pay
During 2020, prices paid to hospitals by employers and private insurers for both inpatient and outpatient services averaged 224 percent of what Medicare would have paid for the same services. Prices among states varied widely.
May 17, 2022
News Release
Private Health Plans During 2020 Paid Hospitals 224 Percent of What Medicare Would Pay
Prices paid to hospitals during 2020 by employers and private insurers for both inpatient and outpatient services averaged 224 percent of what Medicare would have paid, with wide variation in prices among states.
May 17, 2022
Research Brief
Increasing Subsidies and Expanding Health Insurance Options in Connecticut: Findings Without the Build Back Better Act
Researchers examined policy options for increasing the affordability of insurance in Connecticut once subsidies under the American Rescue Plan end.
Mar 31, 2022
Report
Expanding Connecticut State Employee Health Plan to Others Could Increase Insurance Coverage More Than Other Options
Creating a version of the Connecticut state employee health plan for small businesses would insure the most people at the lowest cost to the state. This approach holds promise for stabilizing or reducing consumer costs, improving plan generosity, and bringing more people into the market.
Mar 31, 2022
News Release
Expanding State Employee Health Plan to Others May Do More Than Other Options to Expand Insurance Coverage in ...
Among options to increase health insurance coverage in Connecticut, making a version of the state's employee health plan available to small businesses and some other employers would insure the most people at the lowest cost to the state.
Mar 31, 2022
Commentary
Temporary Safety-Net Policies Prevented Mass Insurance Loss During the Pandemic
Although it provided a foundation, the ACA alone could not have absorbed the effects of the pandemic's sudden job losses on health care coverage. Temporary expansions to the safety net enacted by Congress also were necessary to stem coverage loss. As the pandemic continues, policymakers will want to keep safety-net provisions as available policy options.
Dec 13, 2021
News Release
Boosting Tax Credits and Other Aid Could Prevent Health Insurance Loss During Future Recessions
The federal Affordable Care Act was not robust enough on its own to stave off a large number of people in New York from losing their health coverage during the pandemic-related recession.
Nov 15, 2021
Report
How to Prevent Health Insurance Loss During Future Recessions
The pandemic–related recession and job loss raised concerns that millions of Americans would lose their health insurance. But temporary aid to protect coverage prevented that from happening. Making the enhanced marketplace tax credits in the American Rescue Plan permanent could keep coverage stable in future recessions.
Nov 12, 2021
Commentary
Is the Fight for $15 Going to Cost Low-Wage Workers Their Health Insurance?
Minimum wage increases can lead to reductions in employer-sponsored health insurance for some workers and their dependents. If policymakers want to raise the minimum wage, they should look beyond standard labor market outcomes and take into account other potential effects.
Oct 11, 2021
Report
Summary of the Current Status of Health Insurance Enrollment in Connecticut
To help the state of Connecticut better understand current health insurance enrollment to support improvements to affordability, access, and equity, the authors estimate the distributions of health insurance enrollment by age, gender, race, and ethnicity in detailed insurance categories.
Aug 13, 2021
Journal Article
The Effect of the Minimum Wage on Employer-Sponsored Insurance for Low-Income Workers and Dependents
Minimum wage increases lead to reductions in employer-sponsored insurance coverage in families with incomes below 300% of the federal poverty level.
Jul 28, 2021
Research Brief
Reducing Hospital Spending: Three Policy Options
RAND researchers have estimated the effects of policy options to reduce hospital prices paid by private health plans, outlining design choices and effectiveness levels for each approach.
Apr 21, 2021
Research Brief
Private U.S. Health Plans Pay Hospitals 247 Percent of What Medicare Would Pay
RAND researchers used data from 49 states and Washington, D.C., to assess hospital prices paid by private health plans. Data sources included $33.8 billion in spending from 3,112 community hospitals—more than half of community hospitals nationwide.
Feb 24, 2021
Report
Setting U.S. Hospital Prices Could Cut Overall Health Spending by Billions
Price regulations face political obstacles and have been strongly opposed by medical providers. But setting prices for all commercial health care payers could reduce hospital spending by $61.9 billion to $236.6 billion a year if the rates were set at 100 to 150 percent of the amounts paid by Medicare.
Feb 18, 2021
News Release
Setting Hospital Prices Can Achieve Greater Savings Than Increasing Competition or Price Transparency
Among strategies to curb hospital prices among the commercially insured population in the United States, direct price regulations such as setting rates are likely to achieve greater savings than other approaches like increasing competition or improving price transparency.
Feb 18, 2021
Report
Private Health Plans Pay Hospitals 247% of What Medicare Would Pay
Employers are the largest source of U.S. health insurance, but a lack of price transparency makes it hard for them to assess the costs of hospital services. An analysis of hospital spending by private insurers finds that prices are on average almost two and a half times more than what Medicare would pay.
Sep 18, 2020
News Release
Private Health Plans in the U.S. Pay Hospitals 247% of What Medicare Would Pay
Prices paid to hospitals nationally during 2018 by privately insured patients averaged 247% of what Medicare would have paid, with wide variation in prices among states.
Sep 18, 2020
Report
Private Health Plans Pay Hospitals Much More Than What Medicare Would Pay
An examination of U.S. hospital prices covering 25 states shows that in 2017, the prices paid to hospitals for privately insured patients averaged 241 percent of what Medicare would have paid. There was also wide variation in prices among states.
May 9, 2019

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