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STATISTICAL BRIEF #184:
Employer-Sponsored Health Insurance for State and Local Governments, by Census Division, 2005

September 2007

John P. Sommers, PhD

Highlights

In 2005, 66.8 percent of employees of state and local governments were enrolled in employer-sponsored health insurance.
In 2005, the average premium paid by state and local governments for single coverage for employer-sponsored health insurance was $4,595. This value varied significantly across census divisions.
The average premium contribution per enrolled employee for single coverage for state and local government employees with employer-sponsored health insurance was $409 in 2005.
The average premium for employer-sponsored health insurance per enrolled employee for family coverage across state and local government employers was $11,308.
In 2005, the average contribution towards premiums per state and local government employee enrolled in family coverage through their employer was $2,059.

Introduction

Employer-sponsored health insurance for current workers is one of the primary sources of health insurance coverage in the United States. According to data from the Insurance Component of the 2005 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS-IC), approximately 116.7 million (88.7 percent) of the 131.5 million employees from the combined workforce of all private firms and all state and local governments (non-Federal) worked where the employer offered health insurance. Of those employees who worked where health insurance was offered, approximately 73.8 million (56.1 percent) were enrolled.

The above estimates are averages and are not characteristic of the state and local government workforce. Within this subset of the workforce, 99.9 percent of the workers were employed where health insurance was offered and 66.8 percent of the total workforce was enrolled. Both these values are significantly higher than the averages for all non-Federal workers. Furthermore, characteristics of employer-sponsored health insurance for state and local governments varied significantly across the country.

This Statistical Brief presents estimates, by census division, of overall enrollment rates, premiums, and contributions for employer-sponsored health insurance provided by state and local governments. Only those estimates that had a statistically significant difference from the national average at the 0.05 percent significance level are noted in the text.

Findings

The percentage of all state and local government employees enrolled in employer-sponsored health insurance in 2005 was 66.8 percent (figure 1). The enrollment rate across all census divisions differed from the national average. The New England, East North Central, West North Central, and Mountain census divisions had percentage values lower than the national average, at 60.4, 60.9, 58.7, and 63.2 percent, respectively. The Middle Atlantic, South Atlantic, East South Central, West South Central, and Pacific census divisions had enrollment percentages of 72.0, 69.7, 69.7, 70.8, and 69.3 percent, respectively, all higher than the national average.

In 2005, the single premium per enrolled employee for employer-sponsored health insurance provided through state and local governments was $4,595 (figure 2). The governments in the New England, East North Central, and Pacific census divisions had average values of $5,629, $5,055, and $4,926, respectively. All these values were above the national average. The governments in the Middle Atlantic and West South Central census divisions paid lower than average values of $4,358 and $4,166, respectively.

The average employee contribution towards single coverage for employer-sponsored health insurance provided by a state or local government in 2005 was $409 (figure 3). This contribution varied noticeably across census divisions. The New England and West South Central census divisions had averages of $777 and $517, respectively, both higher than the national average. The Middle Atlantic, West North Central, and East South Central census divisions had values of $292, $203, and $342, respectively, all lower than the national average.

The average premium per enrolled employee for family coverage provided to employees by state and local governments in 2005 was $11,308 (figure 4). The New England and East North Central census divisions paid higher than average amounts of $14,089 and $12,725, respectively. The Middle Atlantic, South Atlantic, and East South Central census divisions had average family premiums of $10,443, 10,724, and 10,348, respectively. These values were all below the national average.

In 2005, the average contribution towards family coverage per employee enrolled in employer-sponsored health insurance provided by state and local governments was $2,059 (figure 5). The Middle Atlantic and East North Central census divisions had the lowest employee amounts of $818 and $1,537, respectively. The New England, West North Central, South Atlantic, East South Central, and West South Central census divisions had averages of $2,525, $2,740, $2,940, $2,596, and $4,265, respectively. All these values were higher than the national average.

Data Source

This Statistical Brief summarizes data from the 2005 MEPS-IC. The data are available on the MEPS Web site at http://www.meps.ahrq.gov/mepsweb/survey_comp/Insurance.jsp or have been produced using special computation runs on the confidential MEPS-IC data available at the U.S. Census Bureau.

Definitions

States were grouped into nine census divisions as follows:

New England: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont
Middle Atlantic: New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania
East North Central: Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Wisconsin
West North Central: Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota
South Atlantic: Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia
East South Central: Alabama, Kentucky, Mississippi, Tennessee
West South Central: Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Texas
Mountain: Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, Wyoming
Pacific: Alaska, California, Hawaii, Oregon, Washington

About MEPS-IC

The MEPS-IC is a survey of business establishments and governments that collects information on employer-sponsored health insurance, such as whether insurance is offered, enrollments, types of plans, and premiums. The survey is conducted annually by the U. S. Census Bureau under the sponsorship of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). The yearly response rate has averaged 78 percent for in-scope sample units. Approximately 4 percent of the original sample has been out-of-scope in a typical year. A total sample of 42,000 establishments was selected for the 2005 survey, prior to accounting for losses due to nonresponse and out-of-scope cases.

For more information on this survey, see MEPS Methodology Reports 6, 8, 10, 14, 17, and 18 on the MEPS Web site at http://www.meps.ahrq.gov/mepsweb/data_stats/publications.jsp and Insurance Component Survey Basics at http://www.meps.ahrq.gov/mepsweb/survey_comp/Insurance.jsp.

Suggested Citation

Sommers, J. P. Employer-Sponsored Health Insurance for State and Local Governments, by Census Division, 2005. Statistical Brief #184. September 2007. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Rockville, Md. http://www.meps.ahrq.gov/mepsweb/data_files/publications/st184/stat184.shtml.

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AHRQ welcomes questions and comments from readers of this publication who are interested in obtaining more information about access, cost, use, financing, and quality of health care in the United States. We also invite you to tell us how you are using this Statistical Brief and other MEPS data and tools and to share suggestions on how MEPS products might be enhanced to further meet your needs. Please e-mail us at mepsprojectdirector@ahrq.hhs.gov or send a letter to the address below:

Steven B. Cohen, PhD, Director
Center for Financing, Access, and Cost Trends
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
540 Gaither Road
Rockville, MD 20850

Table containing figure values follows image.

Figure 1. Percentage of all state and local government employees who were enrolled in employer-sponsored health insurance, by census division, 2005
	New England	Middle Atlantic	East North Central	West North Central	South Atlantic	East South Central	West South Central	Mountain	Pacific	National Average
Percent	60.4	72.0	60.9	58.7	69.7	69.7	70.8	63.2	69.3	66.8
Source: Center for Financing, Access, and Cost Trends, AHRQ, Insurance Component of the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey, 2005

Figure 2. Average single premium per enrolled employee at state and local governments, by census division, 2005
	New England	Middle Atlantic	East North Central	West North Central	South Atlantic	East South Central	West South Central	Mountain	Pacific	National Average
Dollars	5629	4358	5055	4460	4495	4564	4166	4586	4926	4595
Source: Center for Financing, Access, and Cost Trends, AHRQ, Insurance Component of the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey, 2005

Figure 3. Average employee contribution per enrolled employee for single coverage at state and local governments, by census division, 2005
	New England	Middle Atlantic	East North Central	West North Central	South Atlantic	East South Central	West South Central	Mountain	Pacific	National Average
Dollars	777	292	478	203	409	342	517	360	420	409
Source: Center for Financing, Access, and Cost Trends, AHRQ, Insurance Component of the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey, 2005

Figure 4. Average family premium per enrolled employee at state and local governments, by census division, 2005
	New England	Middle Atlantic	East North Central	West North Central	South Atlantic	East South Central	West South Central	Mountain	Pacific	National Average
Dollars	14089	10443	12725	10955	10724	10348	11038	11304	11003	11308
Source: Center for Financing, Access, and Cost Trends, AHRQ, Insurance Component of the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey, 2005

Figure 5. Average employee contribution per enrolled employee for family coverage at state and local governments, by census division, 2005
	New England	Middle Atlantic	East North Central	West North Central	South Atlantic	East South Central	West South Central	Mountain	Pacific	National Average
Dollars	2525	818	1537	2740	2940	2596	4265	2432	1857	2059
Source: Center for Financing, Access, and Cost Trends, AHRQ, Insurance Component of the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey, 2005

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STATISTICAL BRIEF #184: Employer-Sponsored Health Insurance for State and Local Governments, by Census Division, 2005