Poll Shows Businesses Support Expansion Of Massachusetts Health Insurance Requirements For Employers

Main Category: Health Insurance / Medical Insurance
Article Date: 16 Nov 2007 - 5:00 PDT

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Fifty-five percent of Massachusetts employers believe a provision of the state's health insurance law requiring businesses with 11 or more workers to offer health insurance or pay a penalty should be expanded to all companies, according to a poll published on Wednesday in the journal Health Affairs, the Boston Globe reports. Under the law, businesses with 11 or more full-time workers are required to pay an annual fee of up to $295 per employee if they do not offer to pay at least 33% of individual employees' health insurance premiums. According to Jon Gabel, a senior fellow at the University of Chicago National Opinion Research Center who led the poll, the fee represents about one-tenth of the average company cost of providing insurance.

The poll surveyed 1,056 randomly selected Massachusetts firms between February and June and compared the data to a nationwide survey conducted by another organization when appropriate. According to the poll, support for expanding the requirement was greater among companies with three to 10 employees that are not affected by the current law than among employers with more than 1,000 workers, the Globe reports. However, a majority of small businesses that do not offer health insurance did not want to be subject to the requirement, according to the Globe.

The poll also found that employers in the state were no more likely than those nationally to say they were planning to eliminate or restrict eligibility for worker coverage. Fewer than 3% of Massachusetts small businesses said they likely would drop employee health benefits. However, 28% of employers who do not offer insurance said they planned to limit workers' pay raises so employees could continue to qualify for state-subsidized health coverage, which is available for residents with incomes up to 300% of the federal poverty level. Michael Widmer, president of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, said, "That's certainly an unintended consequence. If we actually see employers doing that, we'll have to address it." The Globe reports that expanded enrollment in the state program "could strain the state budget."

In addition, the poll showed that premiums cost nearly twice as much for Massachusetts workers insured through their employers compared with the rest of the nation and that insurance costs increased at a faster rate in Massachusetts last year than in any other state.

The poll is the first in a series of annual reviews commissioned by the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation of business reaction to the insurance requirement (Dembner, Boston Globe, 11/14).

The poll is available online.

American Public Media's "Marketplace" on Wednesday reported on the poll and related issues. The segment includes comments from Gabel and Dick Powers, a spokesperson for the Commonwealth Health Insurance Connector Authority (Tripoli, "Marketplace," American Public Media, 11/14). Audio and a transcript of the segment are available online.

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