Employer-sponsored health insurance in America

From the trade and popular press to network television, the nation's news media paid much attention to the rising cost of health insurance during 1988. Most narratives were based upon information available at the time - anecdotes, interviews with employee benefits managers, and the results from surveys of their clients. In this DataWatch, we report findings from the 1988 Health Insurance Association of America (HIAA) annual survey of employer-sponsored health plans. First, we provide a 1988 snapshot of employer-sponsored health insurance, the source of protection against the cost of illness for an estimated 160 million Americans. Second, we highlight changes in the characteristics of group health insurance that occurred during the past year. This DataWatch updates the findings for 1987 that we reported in Health Affairs, Summer 1988.