Duke 2008 | ASHE | Equity and Efficiency in Health and Healthcare

This abstract-driven session focuses on rising health insurance premium costs and their relationship with the availability, affordability, and ultimately the equity in accessing healthcare faced by employees and their dependents. 2005 MEPS-IC (Medical Expenditure Panel Survey – Insurance Component) data shows that almost 87% of private-sector employees were in establishments that offer health insurance, roughly unchanged from the 86% in 1997. However, the average total single premium per enrolled employee at private sector establishments that offer health insurance rose from $2051 in 1997 to $3991 in 2005, while it more than doubled for family coverage from $5332 in 1997 to $10,728 in 2005. The impact of the growth in premium costs for employer-sponsored health insurance underlies the research in this session's three papers.