Among small firms (employing three to 199 employees) surveyed in a Kaiser/HRET survey of employers not offering health benefits, the percentage of firms that provide employees money to purchase their own health insurance dropped from 9% to 5% among employers employing three to nine between 2012 and 2014.
The percentage of companies that employ between 10 and 199 employees offering such subsidies rose from 11% to 17%.
According to that same survey, 44% of firms employing between three and nine offered health benefits in 2014. That figure rose to 64% for firms employing between 10 and 24 workers, 83% for firms employing 25 to 49 workers and 91% for companies with 50 to 99 employees.
Employers in the South lagged behind other U.S. regions in the percentage of employers providing health benefits, averaging about 48% of companies. Employers in the Northeast, Midwest and West performed better, with roughly 57%, 58% and 60% of all firms respectively in those regions offering health insurance.
Employers in the retail industry offering insurance trailed employers in other industry sectors surveyed, with 37% offering insurance. Leading the industry sectors was state and local government employers, with 92% offering coverage, followed by finance at 68%, manufacturing (61%), healthcare (59%) and agriculture/mining (48%).
Individual market health insurance premiums will increase by an average 9.5% next year in Florida, according to the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation.
In California, individual rates will be rising by an average of 4%, while in New York the average premium increase will exceed 7%, Politico reported.
Information Sources: 2014 Kaiser Foundation/HRET survey of employer sponsored health benefits/ Politico.
