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Sunday, September 14, 2008

Small Firms More Likely To Offer 100% Employer-Paid Health Care Coverage

From Spencer's Benefits Reports: In 2005, 23.4% of employees in firms offering health insurance had access to at least one plan where no employee contribution for the health insurance premium was required for individual coverage, according to a new report from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). In the statistical brief, the AHRQ presents estimates of offer rates and enrollment in employer-sponsored health insurance plans requiring no employee contribution in the ten most populous states in 2005. “The availability of such plans varies considerably by state and firm size, among other factors,” the AHRQ noted. The brief also reviewed state variations from the national average.The great majority (86.9%) of the 112.2 million private sector employees in the United States in 2005 worked at firms that offered employer-sponsored health insurance, the AHRQ said. Among the ten most populous states, California had the highest percentage (37.1%) of workers whose employer offered at least one health care plan for which an employee premium was not required for individual coverage, and the largest proportion of employees (36.1%) with individual coverage who were covered by such plans. Florida and Ohio had the lowest proportion of such covered workers (18% and 16.7%, respectively).Workers at small firms that offered group health insurance were most likely (49.4%) to have available premium-free individual coverage in 2005. Furthermore, such employees were much more likely than those in large firms to be enrolled in a plan that required no premium contribution for individual coverage. More than half of individuals enrolled in an employee-only plan in small firms had no required employee premium contribution; this also was true for more than one-third of those with family coverage in small firms. Workers for small firms in New York who were enrolled in employer-sponsored family coverage were most likely (55.1%) to have such coverage premium-free.Overall, 11.9% of workers in firms that offered health insurance were offered at least one family coverage plan that required no employee contribution. In California, Michigan, New Jersey, and New York, a higher than average percentage of workers in small firms were offered health insurance and had access to at least one plan with no required employee contribution for family coverage; while in Florida the same percentage of workers was lower than the national average.Among large employers, the national average for coverage in premium-free employee-only plans was 14.4%; the national average for family coverage was 9.1%. California (26.9%) New York (14.6%) and Michigan (15.5%) had higher than average individual rates. California (15.5%), Michigan (13.0%), New York (10.0%), and Pennsylvania (12.4%) had higher than average family rates.State Differences in Offer Rates and Enrollment in Employer-Sponsored Health Insurance Plans that Required No Employee Contribution to the Premium Cost, 2005, Statistical Brief #213, Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS), issued in July 2008.

Thursday, September 11, 2008

What really ails the U.S. heatlh care system




Right now, the United States is undergoing a national debate about how best to deliver health care to her people. The lives of our most vulnerable-aging citizens, those with chronic illness, tiny babes-are at stake. Our future financial strength and ability to make personal decisions about our own lives, likewise, lie at the center of this critical debate.



Be informed and request your copy of (What really ails the U.S. health care system) now, email us at info@amsinsure.com and put the title in the subject line and your address in the body of of the email. We will be happy to send you a copy free of charge. We want everyone to be knowledgeable and be able to add in to this great debate with competent knowledge.

Othere topics in the book: facts, not fiction;

  • The Common Myths, Misconceptions, & Deceptions


  • Cost of Health Care Administration


  • Quality Measurements of U.S. Health Care: Infant Mortality and Life Expectancy


  • The Uninsured "Crisis"


  • The Cost of Health Care and Health Insurance


  • Defining Terms


  • What are the Facts about Government-run Mandatory Universal Health Care


  • Why the U.S. has Avoided Mandatory Universal Health Coverage


  • Where & How Did We go Wrong


  • The Key Issue


  • Patients as Consumers


  • Curing What Ails U.S. Health Care

Its informative, filled with factual information and most important easy to read and uncomplicated.

Once again; info@amsinsure.com






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