In 2011, roughly 58.5 percent of workers with health coverage were in private sector self-insured health plans — a significant jump from 40.9 percent in 1998, according to a study from the Employee Benefit Research Institute (pdf).
Self-insured health plans are plans where the employer acts as its own insurer and directly pays healthcare claims to providers instead of purchasing health insurance from a traditional insurance company.
The EBRI found that large employers with 1,000 or more employees have driven the upward trend in self-insured health plans. On average, only 12 percent of employees at small companies (fewer than 50 workers) are in self-insured plans.
Here are other major findings from the EBRI's study:
• While 58.5 percent of employees were in self-insured plans in 2011, figures vary greatly among different states. For example, only 30.5 percent of employees in Hawaii were in self-insured plans compared with 73.8 percent of employees in Minnesota.
• In 2010, self-insured plans covered 57.5 percent of employees.
• The largest jump in the percentage of private-sector workers in self-insured plans occurred from 1999 to 2000. In 1999, only 41.2 percent of workers were in those plans, and the next year, that total spiked to 48.3 percent.
Self-insured health plans are plans where the employer acts as its own insurer and directly pays healthcare claims to providers instead of purchasing health insurance from a traditional insurance company.
The EBRI found that large employers with 1,000 or more employees have driven the upward trend in self-insured health plans. On average, only 12 percent of employees at small companies (fewer than 50 workers) are in self-insured plans.
Here are other major findings from the EBRI's study:
• While 58.5 percent of employees were in self-insured plans in 2011, figures vary greatly among different states. For example, only 30.5 percent of employees in Hawaii were in self-insured plans compared with 73.8 percent of employees in Minnesota.
• In 2010, self-insured plans covered 57.5 percent of employees.
• The largest jump in the percentage of private-sector workers in self-insured plans occurred from 1999 to 2000. In 1999, only 41.2 percent of workers were in those plans, and the next year, that total spiked to 48.3 percent.
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