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Benefits October 29, 2010
Workers Less Confident About Health Benefits
October 29, 2010 (PLANSPONSOR.com) – It might be a reflection of the soft economy, rising health care costs, or health care reform – but workers appear to be less confident of their workplace health benefits than they once were, according to a new report.
Reported by PLANSPONSOR staff
The Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI) and Mathew Greenwald & Associates 2010 Health Confidence Survey found that the percentage of people confident that their employer or union will continue offering health care benefits has declined over the last decade.
The report notes that the percentage of respondents who were extremely or very confident health benefits will continue to be offered fell from 59% in 2009 to 52% in 2010. It had been as high as 68% in 2000, according to the report.
The “somewhat confident” group increased from 25% last year to 30% in 2010. A quarter was “somewhat confident” in 2000 as well. The percentage not confident did not change significantly between 2009 and 2010, but is more than double the rate it was in 2000 (16% not confident in 2010, up from 7% in 2000).
The report’s authors note that the decline “appears to have accelerated since the passage earlier this year of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010.”
Full results of the 2010 Health Confidence Survey appear in the September EBRI Notes, available at www.ebri.org