Spending Trends Under Employer-Sponsored Health Coverage, 1998 to 2006

• 06 Aug 2008

The continuing trend of rising healthcare costs and its impact on individual and family budgets is well documented. Premiums for employer-sponsored health benefits can be a major expense for employees and retirees, but the coverage also provides protection from potentially greater healthcare spending. Nearly two-thirds of the population under age 65 had employment-based health benefits in 2006 (Fronstein, 2007), and one-third of community-dwelling Medicare beneficiaries had supplemental coverage from employer-sponsored insurance in 2003 (Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, 2008). Because of the essential role employer-sponsored coverage plays for many individuals and the predominance of this coverage source in the marketplace, understanding more about the nature of spending by and on behalf of those with this coverage is important.