Kaiser Family Foundation
May 6, 2008

Employer-provided health insurance is the primary source of insurance coverage in the United States, covering almost 160 million people or more than 90 percent of the non-elderly privately-insured population. In recent years, the percentage of firms who offer such benefits has been falling; 69 percent offered health coverage benefits in 2000, whereas 60 percent did the same in 2007. Since employers are not required to offer health benefits to their employees, changes in the rate at which they offer such benefits are important for understanding the number of people covered by private insurance. Having access to work-place health insurance is a key determinant of whether or not a person has private coverage.

Researchers looking at the reasons why employers offer coverage have identified a variety of factors. These include both employee characteristics, such as earnings, occupation, part-time versus full-time status, union status, gender, and age, and employer characteristics, such as geographic region, industry, and firm and establishment size.

This issue brief looks at a less well-understood factor that may also affect an employer's decision to offer health benefits: how long a business has been operating.

The analysis shows that, for smaller establishments, those with younger business ages are less likely to offer health benefits than establishments with older business ages.

Read more: http://www.kff.org/insurance/snapshot/chcm050608oth.cfm