Employer-sponsored plan enrollment steady

July 29, 2015 | By Dina Overland

Consumers enrolled in employer-sponsored health plans over the last two years are largely staying in those plans, according to a new report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

About 72 percent of workers had access to employer-sponsored coverage and about 74 percent of those employees with access enrolled.

When compared to data from two years ago--before the Affordable Care Act took effect--enrollment rates are holding steady. In 2013, about 72 percent of workers had access to employer-sponsored plans and the take-up rate was 75 percent, just 1 percent higher than the 2015 rate.

The agency says its benefits data has a standard error of about 1 percentage point.

Healthcare experts disagree on the extent to which the Affordable Care Act will impact employer-sponsored coverage and enrollment. For example, a Rand Corp. study found that employer-based plans saw the largest enrollment gains, while a Mercer study showed that insurers gained very few additional members in their employer-sponsored health plans between 2014 and 2015.

To learn more:
- here's the report