New Health Policy Brief: Employee Choice

A new Health Policy Brief from Health Affairs and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) looks at health coverage choice for employees of small businesses. Unlike large organizations, small businesses have been less likely to provide comprehensive health insurance or a choice of plans, and their employees are more likely to be uninsured or underinsured. To address this insurance gap, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) created the Small Business Health Options Program (SHOP) Marketplaces in each state. (Note: The SHOP exchange was the subject of an earlier Health Policy Brief.) These Marketplaces (eighteen run by state exchanges, thirty-three by the federal government) will provide “one stop shopping,” for small businesses to compare health plans and enroll their employees. To make SHOP Marketplaces more attractive to small businesses, the ACA required SHOP Marketplaces to offer a feature known as employee choice, in which employers can offer their employees a choice from multiple health insurance plans. While the majority of state-based SHOP Marketplaces have chosen to offer access to multiple plans, employee choice will not be mandatory until 2016. This Health Policy Brief examines the issue of employee choice, the status of its implementation, and whether the concept is successfully attracting more small businesses to offer coverage through SHOP Marketplaces. What’s the Background? Building on previous efforts, the ACA created SHOP Marketplaces in each state that allow ...
Source: Health Affairs Blog - Category: Health Management Authors: Tags: All Categories Business of Health Care Employer-Sponsored Insurance Health Reform Source Type: blogs