Thank you for participating in the 2017 Employer Health Benefits Survey
The 2017 survey fielding period has closed. For questions regarding the Employer Health Benefits Survey, please email Kaiser-HRET@kff.org.
We kindly request your input in a national survey of employers and the health benefits they may offer. This survey, conducted annually since 1999 by two non-partisan research organizations, the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) and the Health Research & Educational Trust (HRET), is the basis of a major report about employer health benefits. The survey is able to provide critical information on health benefits to employers and policy-makers because firms like yours participate in telephone interviews scheduled in the coming months. Given the many ongoing changes in health insurance, your participation is all the more important to accurately capture what is happening in employer health benefits. The information you provide will be kept strictly confidential and will not be reported or released in any way that allows identification of respondents.
Your firm was randomly selected to participate from a list of all employers in the United States. Even if your firm does not offer health benefits, we are still interested in your responses and encourage you to complete the survey. In the next few months, you will receive a phone call from National Research (NR), the professional survey research firm conducting the telephone interviews. They will ask to speak to the individual who is most knowledgeable about your firm’s health benefit plans; if you are not the person who will be answering the questions, please pass this letter to that person. If your firm offers health benefits, you will be asked questions about any health plans offered, including HMO, PPO, POS, and high-deductible health plans that are linked with a savings account, such as health savings accounts (HSAs) or health reimbursement arrangements (HRAs). The Checklist tab outlines the specific topics our interviewers will ask about. Having copies of the plan documents at hand will be very helpful.
You should have also received a copy of the summary of findings from the 2016 study in the mail. The full report is available at kff.org/health-costs/report/2016-employer-health-benefits-survey. You can use the report to determine whether firms similar to yours offer coverage, how much it costs, and how much workers pay for premiums and for using health care services. The KFF/HRET study has been a widely respected source of information for 18 years, including major press coverage in outlets such as The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, and The Los Angeles Times.
The Kaiser Family Foundation provides independent, non-partisan research on health policy issues, and is not affiliated in any way with the Kaiser Permanente health plan. HRET is a not-for-profit organization involved in researching health policy and management issues. More information on each organization is available online at www.kff.org and www.hret.org.
We look forward to speaking with you. If you have any questions in the meantime, please feel free to contact the project manager, Heidi Whitmore, at Kaiser-HRET@kff.org or (763) 478-6725.
2017 Employer Health Benefits Survey Topics
This checklist outlines some specific topics that will be asked in regards to your firm nationwide; not just at your location. If a question is not applicable to your firm, it will not be asked.
Questions for All Firms:
| ? | Total number of employees at your location & the total number of employees nationwide. |
| ? | The number of full-time equivalents. FTEs are the average number of all employees working full-time (30 or more hours per week). For help determining how many FTEs your firm has, please visit www.healthcare.gov/shop-calculators-fte/. |
| ? | The percentage of full-time employees making $24,000 or less per year; percentage making $60,000 or more per year; percentage of all employees working full-time (30 or more hours per week); percentage of all employees age 26 and under and 50 and over. |
Questions Only for Firms That Offer Health Benefits:
| ? | Number of employees eligible for and covered by health benefits nationwide. Number or percent of employees enrolled in each plan type (HMO, PPO, POS & high-deductible with either an HRA or HSA). |
| ? | Types of wellness programs offered; the use and structure of incentives to encourage participation; maximum dollar amount of incentives for participating in the wellness programs. |
| ? | Whether the firm’s plans include health risk assessments and/or biometric screening; the structure of incentives (for firms with 200 or more employees); maximum dollar amount of incentives for meeting biometric outcomes. |
| ? | Whether the largest plan uses tiered provider networks, telemedicine, retail clinics, a nurse hotline, and/or has a narrow network. |
| ? | Whether benefits are available to part-time workers, temporary workers, domestic partners, spouses and dependent children. |
| ? | If the firm offers retiree health benefits, who is covered and how those benefits are administered. (For firms with 200 or more employees) |
Questions about your largest plan in each of the plan types you have (HMO, PPO, POS, and/or high-deductible health plans with a savings option (such as an HRA or HSA):
| ? | If the firm has plans that are self-insured, whether the firm has purchased stop loss or catastrophic coverage, and if so, the level at which it begins to pay for benefits. |
| ? | Whether the plan or plans are grandfathered under the Affordable Care Act. |
| ? | General annual deductibles for single and family coverage, and if physician office visits or prescription drugs are covered before the deductible is met. |
| ? | Co-payments, coinsurance, and/or any separate deductibles for primary care office visits, specialty care office visits, emergency room visits, hospital admissions, and/or outpatient surgery. |
| ? | Out-of-pocket limits for single coverage. |
| ? | Monthly premium or COBRA costs for single and family coverage, including the employee’s contribution and the firm’s contribution. |
| ? | Prescription drug benefit design, such as tiered drug plans, drug co-payments, and/or coinsurance, including those for specialty drugs. |
| ? | Dollar amounts the firm contributes to an HRA (health reimbursement arrangement) and/or HSA (health savings account). |
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
What is the survey about?
The purpose of this annual survey is to provide a detailed look at trends in employer-sponsored health coverage including premiums, employee contributions, cost-sharing provisions, and employer opinions.
Who uses the survey information?
The survey provides critical information on health benefits to benefits managers, policy makers, and journalists, including major press coverage in outlets such as The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, and The Los Angeles Times. Employers often rely on the survey results to understand the cost of insurance in their industry or region.
Can the survey be completed online?
Unfortunately not; the survey can only be completed via phone. Interviewers working on the survey are highly trained and are there to help respondents complete the survey as quickly and easily as possible.
How do I participate?
National Research, a professional research firm, will call your firm to conduct the survey beginning in January. They will ask to speak to the individual who is most knowledgeable about your firm’s health benefit plans.
How should I prepare for the survey?
Please review the mailing that was sent to your firm in January. It contains the letter inviting you to participate as well as a checklist outlining some specific topics that will be asked about your firm. It is also helpful to have copies of the plan documents at hand during the survey.
The checklist says you will ask about wellness programs, but our firm does not have one. What should I do?
If a question is not applicable to your firm, it will not be asked.
What if there is a question I cannot answer?
If there is a question you cannot or would rather not answer, the interviewer will skip it.
My firm does not offer health benefits. Should I still participate?
Yes. Even if your firm does not offer health benefits, we are still interested in your responses and encourage you to complete the survey.
Who can I contact if I have questions about participating in the survey?
Please contact the project manager, Heidi Whitmore, at Kaiser-HRET@kff.org or (763) 478-6725.
Will anyone contact me as a result of participating in the survey?
No; your firm’s information will not be shared with outside parties and nobody will contact you as a result of this survey. All information is reported in a way which protects respondents’ identities.
Will my firm’s information be used for sales or marketing purposes?
No; your firm’s information and identity will be held strictly confidential, will not be used for sales or marketing, and will not be shared with outside parties.
Are you trying to sell me health insurance or any other product?
No; we are not selling anything. We are conducting a survey about job-based health benefits for the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonprofit health care research institute.
Is the Kaiser Family Foundation part of Kaiser Permanente?
No; the Kaiser Family Foundation is not affiliated with Kaiser Permanente or any insurance company. The Foundation is a non-partisan health care research institute independent of provider or political interests. The Kaiser Family Foundation strives to provide trusted information on a range of health policy issues.
How can I see the final results of the survey?
The survey report will be available online in the fall at ehbs.kff.org. As a small token of our appreciation, a printed copy will be mailed to your firm (unless you elect not to receive a copy) at the end of the year.
Where can I find more details about the survey design and methods you use to analyze the data?
Please see our methods section to learn how we design our survey sample, define key terms and categories, analyze the data, and more.
Where can I find results from previous years’ surveys?
Employer Health Benefits Surveys dating back to 1998 are available here.
The Employer Health Benefits Survey is the benchmark survey for understanding the rapidly changing health insurance market. For nearly two decades newspapers across the country have relied on the survey in their reporting. Over the last several years hundreds of papers have covered the survey. It is important for the experience of employers like yours to be represented in their coverage.
