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Massachusetts Employers Largely Support Health Care Reform: Few Signs of Crowd-out .

Massachusetts Employers Largely Support Health Care Reform: Few Signs of Crowd-out. Jon Gabel Heidi Whitmore Jeremy Pickreign National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago. Financial support for this study was from the Blue Cross Blue Shield

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Massachusetts Employers Largely Support Health Care Reform: Few Signs of Crowd-out .

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  1. Massachusetts Employers Largely Support Health Care Reform: Few Signs of Crowd-out. Jon Gabel Heidi Whitmore Jeremy Pickreign National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago Financial support for this study was from the Blue Cross Blue Shield Massachusetts Foundation and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

  2. Study Objectives • Examine Massachusetts employers’ • Attitudes about health care reform • Anticipated responses to health care reform • Provide baseline documentation comparing health benefits in Massachusetts with the nation

  3. Methods • Survey of about 1,000 randomly selected Massachusetts public and private firms with three or more workers (RWJF/NORC Mass. Employer Benefits Survey). • Comparison group is Kaiser Family Foundation/Health Research and Educational Trust (KFF/HRET) national survey. • Massachusetts survey includes core questions from KFF/HRET national survey, plus additional questions on employer attitudes about Massachusetts health care reform. • National Research LLP conducted telephone interviews with employee benefit managers conducted from February to June 2008 for RWJF/NORC survey. • Use of statistical weights • Employer weights • Employee weights

  4. Coverage Estimates Sources: Robert Wood Johnson Foundation/National Opinion Research Center Massachusetts Employer Benefit Survey, 2007; and Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation/Health Research and Educational Trust Employer Health Benefits Survey, 2007. * Massachusetts estimate is significantly different from United States estimate at p<0.05 level.

  5. Employer Responsibility:Percentage of Firms Agreeing That Employers Bear Some Responsibility for Health Insurance, by Firm Characteristics, 2007 * Distributions are significantly different from other firm sizes or offering status at p < 0.05. Source: RWJF/NORC Survey of Massachusetts Employers: 2007

  6. Employer Support for Reform Plan’s Requirement to Offer Health Benefits or Pay Fair Share Contribution, and Against Exempting the Smallest Firms, by Firm Size, 2007 Firms agreeing with requirement to offer or pay fair share contribution Firms agreeing that smallest firms (10 or fewer workers) should not be exempted * Distributions are significantly different from other firm sizes at p < 0.05. Source: RWJF/NORC Survey of Massachusetts Employers: 2007

  7. Little Early Evidence of Crowd-Out among Firms with 3- 50 Workers * Tests found no significant differences between Mass. And USA. Source: RWJF/NORC Survey of Massachusetts Employers, 2007

  8. Summary and Discussion • Massachusetts employers hold views generally supportive of the spirit of health care reform. • View employers bearing some responsibility for providing health insurance for workers. • Support “fair share ” provision. • Support expanding requirements to firms with 10 or fewer workers. • Little early evidence of crowd-out. • Some aspects of health insurance make reform in Massachusetts challenging. • Employee contributions for single coverage are nearly twice the national average, reducing the take-up rate. • Premiums are more expensive than nationally, and increasing more rapidly.

  9. Plan Characteristics Sources: Robert Wood Johnson Foundation/National Opinion Research Center Massachusetts Employer Benefit Survey, 2007; and Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation/Health Research and Educational Trust Employer Health Benefits Survey, 2007. * Massachusetts estimate is significantly different from United States estimate at p<0.05 level.

  10. Employee Responsibility:Percentage of Firms Agreeing That Employees Bear Some Responsibility for Health Insurance, by Firm Characteristics, 2007 * Distributions are significantly different from other firm sizes or offering status at p < 0.05. Source: RWJF/NORC Survey of Massachusetts Employers: 2007

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