Employer Health

Oral contraceptives are the most commonly used method of reversible contraception in the U.S. In July 2023, the FDA approved Opill, the first daily oral contraceptive pill to become available over the counter (OTC) without a doctor’s prescription. This issue brief provides an overview of OTC oral contraceptives and laws and policies related to insurance coverage.

More than two in five (42%) or 57.4 million adults under 65 with private insurance could be eligible under clinical criteria for GLP-1 drugs used to treat people with type 2 diabetes, obesity, or excess weight and weight-related health issues, according to a new KFF analysis. Though only about 3%…

Among the 167 million people with employer-sponsored insurance in 2022, 3.4 million used at least one of the first 10 drugs identified for Medicare price negotiations.

This Health Policy 101 chapter explores employer-sponsored health insurance (ESI), the primary health coverage source for non-elderly residents in the U.S. In addition to detailing ESI requirements and incentives, structure, availability, and costs, the chapter examines ongoing challenges related to affordability and access to care for those with ESI coverage.

This Health Policy 101 chapter explores the complex landscape of private health insurance regulation in the United States, detailing the interplay between state and federal regulations that shape access, affordability, and the adequacy of private health coverage. It focuses on key laws such as the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and the Employer Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), and discusses how regulations impact the private insurance market, illustrating the challenges consumers face in navigating this system.

This data note analyzes five national surveys to assess trends in retiree health coverage among people ages 65 and older. These five surveys produce somewhat different estimates of retiree health coverage, but together paint a clear picture: the share of Medicare-age adults with employer- or union-sponsored retiree health coverage has been shrinking and appears to be on the way to extinction.

This brief discusses the longstanding legal doctrine, Chevron deference, being challenged in two cases before the U.S. Supreme Court and includes examples of what could be at stake for health care consumers should federal courts no longer use this doctrine to address litigation related to federal health regulations. The focus here is on patient and consumer protection regulation, but overturning the Chevron deference would have implications in all areas of health care.

The Affordable Care Act does not require businesses to provide health benefits to their workers, but applicable large employers may face penalties if they don’t make affordable coverage available. The employer shared responsibility provision of the Affordable Care Act penalizes employers who either do not offer coverage or do not offer coverage that meets minimum value and affordability standards. These penalties apply to firms with 50 or more full-time equivalent employees. This flowchart illustrates how those employer responsibilities work.