The annual BLS survey of employer-sponsored benefits shows that the share of workers with access to medical benefits increased to 74% this year from 71% in 2019. That’s good news. Yet curiously, the share of workers who participate in employer medical plans among those with access to them—i.e., the take-up rate—has fallen to 65% from 73%.
The take-up rate has fallen more among part-time workers (to 44% from 56%) and employees whose wages are in the bottom 25% (49% from 61%) and 10% (34% from 57%) of the income spectrum. Why would increasing numbers of lower-income workers reject employer-sponsored coverage? Perhaps because they can now get ObamaCare plans at no cost.
The Inflation Reduction Act’s enhanced subsidies enable Americans who earn between 100% and 150% of the poverty line—$15,650 and $23,475 for an individual—to qualify for zero-premium health coverage and reduced deductibles. Workers typically have to pay deductibles and 20% of their premiums in employer plans.
Source: Wall Street Journal