Employer Health Benefits:              2006 Annual Survey

These are findings of the Kaiser Family Foundation/Health Research and Educational Trust 2006 Annual Employer Health Benefits Survey (Kaiser/HRET). The report conducted by Kaiser/HRET reports findings from a telephone survey of 3,159 randomly selected public and private employers, including 2,122 who responded to the full survey and an additional 1,037 who responded to one question about whether or not they provide health coverage to their employees. The survey was conducted between January and May 2006, and the firms were chosen from a Dun & Bradstreet list of employers with three or more workers. The survey is based on previous surveys sponsored by the Health Insurance Association of America from 1987-1990 and KPMG from 1991-1998.

According to the survey, the cost of premiums of employer-sponsored health insurance rose by 7.7%, nearly twice the 2006 inflation rate of 3.5%. However, rate of health care premium increases are less than the 9.5% in 2005 and 13.9% in 2003. Over the past six years, health care premium costs have jumped by 87%. About 61% of firms nationwide offer health benefits to some or all of their employees. While nearly all firms with more than 200 employees offer health benefits, less than 50% of firms with less than ten employees offer health benefits.