Fewer Employers Cover Full Cost of Health Care Benefits
The number of U.S. employers that offer health benefits at no cost to employees decreased from 1998 to 2003, according to a report by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Bloomberg/Houston Chronicle reports.
In a report released Wednesday, AHRQ found that in 1998, 35% of U.S. citizens said their employer provided them with free health care. That proportion dropped to 28% in 2003, according to Beth Levin Crimmel, a statistician at the agency who lead the report.
Steven Cohen, director of AHRQ's Center for Financing Access and Cost Trends, said that the findings show that many companies are attempting to control rising health care costs by requiring employees to contribute to their own health plans (Bloomberg/Houston Chronicle, 1/11).