Issue Briefs

The summary plan description (SPD) is the primary source of information for workers who participate in an employment-based health care plan. This study finds that important information contained in many SPDs is written at a reading level that may be too high for the average plan participant. Findings suggest that fundamental improvements are needed in the readability of written SPDs, and that employers and plan administrators should explore the use of alternative methods of communication to plan participants beyond the written SPD. Press release EBRI Notes Oct 11, 2006 12 pages

The proportion of uninsured working-age Americans rose slightly to 17.9 percent in 2005, and the overall percentage of the population under age 65 with health insurance declined in 2005 to a post-1994 low of 82.1 percent. This Issue Brief provides historic data through 2005 on the number and percentage of nonelderly individuals with and without health insurance. It also discusses trends in coverage for the 1994–2005 period and highlights characteristics that typically indicate whether an individual is insured. EBRI Issue Brief Oct 3, 2006 32 pages

Families near or in retirement are falling deeper in dept, and the nation’s oldest families—those with family heads age 75 or older—have substantially increased their debt levels, potentially putting their ability to finance their remaining retirement at risk, according to a study released today by EBRI. Press release EBRI Notes Sep 14, 2006 16 pages

A key weakness of many retirement income models is that they use average estimates for life expectancy, and, consequently, provide workers with only a 50 percent chance of having adequate income in retirement. But a new study by the nonpartisan Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI) uses expanded risk analysis and provides a range of probabilities of success. The EBRI model finds that the amount of money Americans will need for an adequate retirement varies widely based on individual factors and often is substantially higher than previously estimated. EBRI Issue Brief Sep 13, 2006 36 pages

The average account balance among American workers who consistently held 401(k) accounts from 1999 through 2005 increased 50 percent despite one of the worst bear markets since the Great Depression. Among this group, the average account balance increased 10 percent in 2005, according to a study released by the nonpartisan Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI) and the Investment Company Institute (ICI). EBRI Issue Brief Aug 24, 2006 20 pages

Two articles by EBRI look at the status of the retirement systems in the United Kingdom, where the government has proposed major changes, and in China, where the pension plan is “grossly underfunded.” Press release EBRI Notes Aug 1, 2006 12 pages

The nonpartisan Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI), in conjunction with AARP, co-sponsored a day-long conference on the future of the U.S. employment-based pension system. This article summarizes the main points raised at the conference: Several conference speakers predicted that the evolution currently under way in the system will lead to radical change and the ultimate demise of private-sector defined benefit pensions, the article reports. Press release EBRI Notes Jul 25, 2006 12 pages

A couple age 65 retiring today and living to average life expectancy would need $295,000 to cover premiums for health insurance and out-of-pocket expenses during retirement, according to a new study& by the nonpartisan Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI). EBRI Issue Brief Jul 20, 2006 32 pages

This Issue Brief examines changes that policymakers are discussing, explores the history of tax laws concerning the tax treatment of health benefits and the cost to the federal government in forgone taxes because of these laws, and examines some the advantages and disadvantages that could result from the proposed changes. EBRI Issue Brief Jun 15, 2006 32 pages

This article builds upon a previous EBRI Notes study (April 2006) by determining the change in the distribution of the benefit levels beneficiaries would receive under various Social Security reform proposals. Press release EBRI Notes Jun 13, 2006 12 pages