Employer Opinions about Responsibility for Health Coverage Print E-mail

The following reflect answers to select questions asked of California employers from April to July 2007 as part of the California Employer Health Benefits Survey. This annual survey is a joint product of the National Opinion Research Center (NORC) and the California HealthCare Foundation. The following questions and answers from the 2007 survey are particularly relevant to California’s health care reform discussion.

 

Figure 1: Employers Supporting California "Pay or Play" Approach
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Half of all California firms (52%) either strongly or somewhat support California "pay or play" legislation. Small firms were more likely to strongly support the legislation than were large firms, at 18% versus 7%.

 

Figure 2: Employers Agreeing That All Firms Bear Some Responsibility for Providing Health Benefits
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Two-thirds of all California firms agree that employers bear some responsibility for providing health benefits. Eighty-eight percent of all large firms (200 or more workers) agree that all firms bear some responsibility for providing health benefits, with nearly half (48%) strongly supporting that statement.

 

Figure 3: Employers Agreeing That All Individuals Bear Some Responsibility for Buying Health Insurance if Income Is Above Poverty Level
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Eighty-two percent of all California firms agreed that all individuals above the poverty line bear some responsibility for buying health insurance. About 40% of large firms with 200 or more workers strongly agreed, compared with 36% for small firms.

 

Figure 4: Among Employers Offering Health Benefits, Attitudes Vary Toward Providing Coverage
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Nearly two-thirds of all small California firms believed it is important to pay for a significant portion of the health benefit costs for workers only. Conversely, 68% of large firms (200 or more workers) believed it is important to pay a significant portion of the cost of health insurance for both workers and their families.

 

Source: All data as reported by the National Opinion Research Center (NORC) and the California HealthCare Foundation, California Employer Health Benefits Survey, 2007.
* Distribution is statistically different from all other firms.

 

 
 
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