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Information on Employer-Based Kansas Health Insurance

Employer-sponsored insurance is the primary form of private insurance in Kansas for both adults and children.

Figure 5 shows how the percentage of adult Kansans covered by employer-sponsored insurance has changed over time.

Despite the rising cost of health care, many employers, in particular large employers and those who hire predominantly high-wage workers, continue to offer health benefits as a recruitment tool. Two-thirds of adult Kansans are covered by health insurance through their employer or a family member's.

However, the most recent CPS data indicate that employer-sponsored coverage in Kansas has been slowly eroding. While the downward trend has not always been consistent, the percentage of adult Kansans covered through an employer has declined by 4 percentage points since 2000-2001.

This mirrors a nationwide decline.

In Kansas, most of the decline in employer-sponsored coverage for adults occurred between 2004-2005 and 2006-2007. During this same period, the percent of adult Kansans who are uninsured increased from 14.2 percent to 17.1 percent.

Data from an annual survey of employers suggest some possible reasons for the decline in employer-sponsored coverage. Among all private-sector employees in Kansas, the percentage working for employers that sponsor health insurance dropped between 2000 and 2006. Most of this decline occurred between 2000 and 2004. Moreover, the percentage of employees eligible for health insurance sponsored by their employers also went down. Most of the decline in eligibility occurred between 2004 and 2006.

While these findings are informative, they do not fully explain the decline in employer-sponsored coverage. For example, changes in work patterns, such as a shift from full-time work to part-time work or an increase in unemployment, may reduce the availability of employer-sponsored health insurance. It is also possible that increases in the cost of dependent health insurance could have deterred employees from enrolling their spouses or adult children. All of these trends interact with each other, making it difficult to know exactly why coverage is declining.

Figure 6 shows that for children, as well as adults, employer-sponsored coverage through a parent or guardian has declined. The percentage of children insured by a caretaker's employer has declined by almost 7 percentage points since 2000-2001. Approximately 60.8 percent of Kansas children were covered by employer-sponsored insurance in 2006-2007.

This is roughly consistent with national trends. Most of the drop in employer-sponsored coverage for children occurred between 2003-2004 and 2006-2007. As noted on page 14, 2003-2004 also marks the year when the percentage of Kansas children who are uninsured stopped declining.