title: An early look at changes in employer-sponsored insurance under the Affordable Care Act.
abstract: Critics frequently characterize the Affordable Care Act (ACA) as a threat to the survival of employer-sponsored insurance. The Medicaid expansion and Marketplace subsidies could adversely affect employers' incentives to offer health insurance and workers' incentives to take up such offers. This article takes advantage of timely data from the Health Reform Monitoring Survey for June 2013 through September 2014 to examine, from the perspective of workers, early changes in offer, take-up, and coverage rates for employer-sponsored insurance under the ACA. We found no evidence that any of these rates have declined under the ACA. They have, in fact, remained constant: around 82 percent, 86 percent, and 71 percent, respectively, for all workers and around 63 percent, 71 percent, and 45 percent, respectively, for low-income workers. To date, the ACA has had no effect on employer coverage. Economic incentives for workers to obtain coverage from employers remain strong.
authors.affiliation: Fredric Blavin (fblavin@urban.org) is a senior research associate in the Health Policy Center at the Urban Institute, in Washington, D.C.
authors.forename: Fredric
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Blavin
authors.affiliation: Adele Shartzer is a research associate in the Health Policy Center, Urban Institute.
authors.forename: Adele
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Shartzer
authors.affiliation: Sharon K. Long is a senior fellow in the Health Policy Center, Urban Institute.
authors.forename: Sharon K
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Long
authors.affiliation: John Holahan is an institute fellow in the Health Policy Center, Urban Institute.
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Holahan
mesh_terms: D003365:Costs and Cost Analysis / Q000639:trends; D005544:Forecasting; D006264:Health Benefit Plans, Employee / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data* / Q000639:trends*; D006297:Health Services Accessibility / Q000191:economics / Q000639:trends*; D006801:Humans; D019458:Insurance Coverage / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data* / Q000639:trends*; D058991:Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data* / Q000639:trends*; D011203:Poverty / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D014481:United States; D014600:Utilization Review
keywords: Employer-Based System < Insurance; Health Economics; Health Reform; Insurance; Insurance Coverage < Insurance