Employer-sponsored health insurance hits new low
THY GOVERNMENT SHALL PROVIDE…
Opponents of President Obama’s Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act have argued dropping health coverage is an unintended consequence of the law that will negatively affect employees who want to stick with the coverage they know and like.
Estimates have widely varied on just what reform will do to employer-based health coverage. ADeloitte report last summer estimated that one in 10 employers will drop coverage for their employees, while consulting firm McKinsey & Co. drew fire when they stated 30 percent of respondents will “definitely” or “probably” stop offering employer-sponsored health insurance after 2014.
At the same time, Gallup finds more Americans continue to report having a government-based health plan—Medicare, Medicaid, or military or veterans’ benefits—with the 25.6 percent who did so in 2012 up from 23.4 percent in 2008.
Gallup predicts that number will also continue to increase, as reform expands the Medicaid program in 2014 to cover more people, which will likely affect the total percentage of all adults who get their coverage through a government plan.
“Fewer Americans continue to have employer-based insurance than did so in 2008. This appears to be due to two factors: higher unemployment and fewer workers getting insurance through an employer, either because that employer no longer offers it or because the cost is prohibitive for the employee,” Gallup researchers note. “Americans are now more likely to be uninsured or to get their coverage through a government-based program.”
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