title: Embraceable you: how employers influence health plan enrollment.
abstract: Based on data from a 1999 national survey of 1,939 randomly selected employers, this paper examines the policies that affect the percentage of workers eligible for and enrolled in a firm's health plan. In 1994, 14 percent of employees worked for a firm offering cash-back payments, but fewer than 1 percent worked for a firm with income-related premiums or deductibles. The strongest determinants of eligibility rates are the waiting time for new employees before they are deemed eligible, and eligibility standards for part-time workers. The primary determinants of the take-up rate are lowest monthly employee contribution for single coverage, and the percentage of the workforce earning less than $20,000 per year.
authors.affiliation: Health Research and Educational Trust, Washington, DC, USA.
authors.forename: J R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Gabel
authors.forename: J D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Pickreign
authors.forename: H H
authors.initials: HH
authors.lastname: Whitmore
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Schoen
mesh_terms: D003256:Community Participation; D003625:Data Collection; D003669:Deductibles and Coinsurance; D004608:Eligibility Determination; D004649:Employee Incentive Plans; D006264:Health Benefit Plans, Employee / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D019458:Insurance Coverage; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D016134:Organizational Policy; D014481:United States