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STATISTICAL BRIEF #223:
Employer-Sponsored Health Insurance for State and Local Governments, by Census Division, 2006

October 2008

Beth Levin Crimmel, MS and John P. Sommers, PhD

Highlights

In 2006, 65.5 percent of employees of state and local governments were enrolled in employer-sponsored health insurance.
In 2006, the average premium paid by state and local governments for single coverage for employer-sponsored health insurance was $4,860. This value varied significantly across census divisions.
The average employee premium contribution per enrolled employee for single coverage for state and local government employees with employer-sponsored health insurance was $454 in 2006.
The average premium for employer-sponsored health insurance per enrolled employee for family coverage across state and local government employers was $11,763.
In 2006, the average employee contribution towards premiums per state and local government employee enrolled in family coverage through their employer was $2,058.

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 2006 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS-IC), approximately 119.1 million (88.8 percent) of the 134.1 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 73.3 million (61.5 percent) were enrolled.

The above estimates are not restricted to 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 65.5 percent of the total workforce was enrolled. Both 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 2006 was 65.5 percent (figure 1). The enrollment rate in several census divisions differed from the national average. The East North Central and West North Central census divisions had percentage values lower than the national average, at 60.3 and 56.6 percent, respectively. The South Atlantic and West South Central census divisions had enrollment percentages of 69.8 and 70.8 percent, respectively, both higher than the national average.

In 2006, the single premium per enrolled employee for employer-sponsored health insurance provided through state and local governments was $4,860 (figure 2). The governments in the New England, East North Central, and Pacific census divisions had average values of $5,874, $5,436, and $5,295, respectively-all above the national average. The governments in the South Atlantic ($4,618), West South Central ($4,384), and Mountain ($4,651) census divisions paid lower than average single premiums.

The average employee contribution towards single coverage for employer-sponsored health insurance provided by a state or local government in 2006 was $454 (figure 3). This contribution varied noticeably across census divisions. The New England and South Atlantic census divisions had averages of $925 and $519, respectively, both higher than the national average. The Middle Atlantic and East South Central census divisions had values of $274 and $322, respectively, both lower than the national average.

The average premium per enrolled employee for family coverage provided to employees by state and local governments in 2006 was $11,763 (figure 4). The New England and East North Central census divisions paid higher than average amounts of $14,887 and $12,535, respectively. The Middle Atlantic, South Atlantic, and Pacific census divisions had below average family premiums of $11,434, $10,866, and $11,318, respectively.

In 2006, the average employee contribution towards family coverage per employee enrolled in employer-sponsored health insurance provided by state and local governments was $2,058 (figure 5). The Middle Atlantic, East North Central, and Pacific census divisions had the lowest employee amounts of $875, $1,251, and $1,578, respectively. The New England ($2,764), West North Central ($2,908), South Atlantic ($3,237), East South Central ($2,875), and West South Central ($4,254) census divisions' employee contributions were higher than the national average.

Data Source

This Statistical Brief summarizes data from the 2006 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). For state and local governments, the annual average response rate is 92 percent. In 2006, 3,000 government sample units were selected for the survey.

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

Crimmel, B.L. and Sommers, J. P. Employer-Sponsored Health Insurance for State and Local Governments, by Census Division, 2006. Statistical Brief #223. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Rockville, MD, http://www.meps.ahrq.gov/mepsweb/data_files/publications/st223/stat223.pdf.

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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.

	New England	Middle Atlantic	East North Central	West North Central	South Atlantic	East South Central	West South Central	Mountain	Pacific	National Average
Figure 1. Percentage of all state and local government employees who were enrolled in employer-sponsored health insurance, by census division, 2006
Percentage	63.4%	67.8%	60.3%	56.6%	69.8%	67.0%	70.8%	63.5%	64.9%	65.5%
Source: Center for Financing, Access, and Cost Trends, AHRQ, Insurance Component of the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey, 2006

	New England	Middle Atlantic	East North Central	West North Central	South Atlantic	East South Central	West South Central	Mountain	Pacific	National Average
Figure 2. Average single premium per enrolled employee at state and local governments, by census division, 2006
Dollars	$5874	$4780	$5436	$4853	$4618	$4819	$4384	$4651	$5295	$4860
Source: Center for Financing, Access, and Cost Trends, AHRQ, Insurance Component of the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey, 2006

	New England	Middle Atlantic	East North Central	West North Central	South Atlantic	East South Central	West South Central	Mountain	Pacific	National Average
Figure 3. Average employee contribution per enrolled employee for single coverage at state and local governments, by census division, 2006
Dollars	$925	$274	$420	$409	$519	$322	$511	$402	$440	$454
Source: Center for Financing, Access, and Cost Trends, AHRQ, Insurance Component of the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey, 2006

	New England	Middle Atlantic	East North Central	West North Central	South Atlantic	East South Central	West South Central	Mountain	Pacific	National Average
Figure 4. Average family premium per enrolled employee at state and local governments, by census division, 2006
Dollars	$14887	$11434	$12535	$12056	$10866	$11418	$11134	$11498	$11318	$11763
Source: Center for Financing, Access, and Cost Trends, AHRQ, Insurance Component of the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey, 2006

	New England	Middle Atlantic	East North Central	West North Central	South Atlantic	East South Central	West South Central	Mountain	Pacific	National Average
Figure 5. Average employee contribution per enrolled employee for family coverage at state and local governments, by census division, 2006
Dollars	$2764	$875	$1251	$2908	$3237	$2875	$4254	$2419	$1578	$2058
Source: Center for Financing, Access, and Cost Trends, AHRQ, Insurance Component of the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey, 2006

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STATISTICAL BRIEF #223: Employer-Sponsored Health Insurance for State and Local Governments, by Census Division, 2006