2016 Employer Health Benefits Survey

  This annual survey of employers provides a detailed look at trends in employer-sponsored health coverage including premiums, employee contributions, cost-sharing provisions, and employer opinions. The 2016 survey included more than 1,900 interviews with non-federal public and private firms. Annual premiums for employer-sponsored family health coverage reached $18,142 this year, up 3 percent from last year, with workers on average paying $5,277 towards the cost of their coverage, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation/Health Research & Education Trust 2016 Employer Health Benefits Survey. The 2016 survey includes information on the use of incentives for employer wellness programs, plan cost-sharing as well as firm offer rate. Survey results are released here in a variety of ways, including a full report with downloadable tables on a variety of topics, summary of findings, and an article published in the journal Health Affairs.

NEWS RELEASE

• A news release announcing the publication of the 2016 Employer Health Benefits Survey is available here.

SUMMARY OF FINDINGS

• The Summary of Findings provides an overview of the 2016 survey results and is available under the Summary of Findings tab.

FULL REPORT

HEALTH AFFAIRS

• The peer-reviewed journal Health Affairs has published an article with key findings from the 2016 survey: Health Benefits In 2016: Family Premiums Rose Modestly, And Offer Rates Remained Stable.

WEB BRIEFING

• On Wednesday, September 14, 2016, the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Health Research & Educational Trust (HRET) held a reporters-only web briefing to release the 2016 Employer Health Benefits Survey.

INTERACTIVE GRAPHIC

• This graphing tool allows users to look at changes in premiums and worker contributions for covered workers at different types of firms over time: Premiums and Worker Contributions Among Workers Covered by Employer-Sponsored Coverage, 1999-2016.

KEY EXHIBITS – CHARTPACK

• Over twenty overview slides from the 2016 Employer Health Benefits Survey are available as a slideshow or PDF.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

• Standard errors for selected estimates are available in the Technical Supplement here.
• Employer Health Benefits Surveys from 1998-2015 are available here. Please note that historic survey reports have not been revised with methodological changes.
• Researchers may request for a public use dataset by going to Contact Us and choosing “TOPIC: Health Costs.”

Researchers at the Kaiser Family Foundation, NORC at the University of Chicago, and Health Research & Educational Trust designed and analyzed the survey.