Issue Briefs

Annuity Income: Ltest data confirm earlier findings that gender, marital status, age, education, and other demographic variables have a significant impact on the likelihood of a worker receiving a retirement annuity and/or employment-based pension income in retirement. Employer Spending on Benefits: Employer spending on total compensation continues to increase, reaching almost $8 trillion at year-end 2007 or almost 35 percent higher in 2000. Wages and salaries accounted for the lion’s share, $6.4 trillion (or 81.4 percent), while benefits made up the remainder, $1.5 trillion (18.6 percent).  Press release EBRI Notes Nov 26, 2008 12 pages

Enrollment in consumer-directed or high-deductible health plans eligible for a tax-preferred savings account increased to 9.8 million adults this year, with participants more likely to have higher incomes and be in better health than those with traditional health coverage, according to survey results released by the nonpartisan Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI). EBRI Issue Brief Nov 18, 2008 44 pages

The percentage of workers participating in an employment-based retirement plan increased significantly in 2007 for the first time since 1998, with the increase affecting virtually all categories of workers, according to a study released today by the nonpartisan Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI). EBRI Issue Brief Oct 9, 2008 40 pages

Americans continued to be battered by rising health care costs this year, with more than half of those with health insurance reporting they experienced higher costs. Some said the increases adversely affected their household finances and some said the U.S. health care system is so flawed that it should be completely overhauled, according to the 2008 Health Confidence Survey (HCS). Press release EBRI Notes Oct 7, 2008 16 pages

IRAs: More retirement assets are held in individual retirement accounts than any other vehicle, totaling $4.75 trillion at year-end 2007. Domestic Partner Benefits: This article updates previous research by EBRI providing information on why employers offer domestic partner health benefits, legal issues involved, recent developments, and current data. Press release EBRI Notes Sep 11, 2008 16 pages

The percentage of the non-elderly population (under age 65) with health insurance coverage increased to 82.8 percent in 2007. While the percentage of the non-elderly population with employment-based health benefits was unchanged between 2006 and 2007, and the percentage with public coverage increased, resulting in a decrease in the uninsured, this should not be viewed as an indicator of things to come in 2008. EBRI Issue Brief Sep 9, 2008 36 pages

The current trend in health care design toward “consumer-driven” health plans illustrates the same trend seen in 401(k) plans where benefit decision-making and responsibility have shifted from the employer to the worker. This report looks at lessons learned in the retirement realm with respect to offering workers choice, financial incentives, and more information and education. This is compared with the early evolution of consumer-driven health plans, which are still being driven solely by the market and not by legislation. EBRI Issue Brief Aug 12, 2008 28 pages

The first article notes that more than 12 million immigrants in the United States were uninsured in 2006, accounting for almost 27 percent of all uninsured individuals in the country (press release). The second article finds that statutory contribution limits make it unlikely HSAs will play more than a minor part in savings for health care costs in retirement (press release). EBRI Notes Aug 5, 2008 16 pages

Nearly two years after the Pension Protection Act (PPA) of 2006 became law, the legislation’s “automatic” provisions—automatically enrolling new workers in their employers’ 401(k) plans, automatically putting their contributions into age-appropriate “default” investments, and automatically increasing their annual contributions—are beginning to have the desired effect, according to speakers at EBRI's semi-annual policy forum. Press release EBRI Notes Jul 10, 2008 12 pages

Employers have a narrow window of up to two years in which they may be able to change retiring workers’ decisions by offering them incentives to remain with the company, according to results of a new survey released by EBRI. EBRI Issue Brief Jul 10, 2008 24 pages