Affordable Health Insurance Options for Small Business and Low-Wage Workers Remains Elusive: Experience With New Health Reimbursement Arrangements in New Jersey

Low-wage workers and those employed by small businesses are least likely to be offered health insurance coverage and they are over-represented among the uninsured. Two new forms of health reimbursement arrangements (HRAs) that allow employers to help fund individual market coverage for workers have...

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Published inInquiry (Chicago) Vol. 60; p. 469580231210726
Main Authors Cantor, Joel C., Chou, Jolene, Koller, Margaret, Hempstead, Katherine
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Los Angeles, CA SAGE Publications 01.01.2023
SAGE PUBLICATIONS, INC
SAGE Publishing
Subjects
American Rescue Plan Act 2021-US
Associations
Companies
Consumer-driven health plans
Employees
Employers
Health care industry
Health insurance
Insurance coverage
Part time employment
Professionals
Reimbursement
Respondents
Small business
Stock brokers
Tax credits
Uninsured people
Workers
United States > US
New Jersey
employer-sponsored health insurance
small businesses
health reimbursement arrangements (HRAs)
individual health insurance
uninsured
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Summary:Low-wage workers and those employed by small businesses are least likely to be offered health insurance coverage and they are over-represented among the uninsured. Two new forms of health reimbursement arrangements (HRAs) that allow employers to help fund individual market coverage for workers have been touted as breakthrough strategies to help fill this gap. Despite several years of experience and low adoption, little is known about employer understanding of or views about these HRA options. Consistent with other evidence, only 11.8% of New Jersey employers we surveyed offer or plan to offer either of the HRA options. Few respondents (18.5%) report familiarity with either option. Even among businesses that offer or plan to offer this form of HRA, under half (47.6%) say that they are familiar with them. Other reasons cited for not offering these options include broker advice and complexity. While more investigation is needed, these findings suggest that new strategies should be explored to fill the gap in health insurance for low-wage and small business employees.
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ISSN:0046-9580
1945-7243
DOI:10.1177/00469580231210726