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How important is employer-sponsored health insurance to you?
In January 2009, the National Association of Colleges and Employers reported that employers planned to hire 22% fewer college grads this year. Bad news for eager and optimistic college grads. That news prompted EHealthInsurance to conduct their recent survey of college students about their job expectations after graduation and to see if they know how and where to get it if they find their employment options more limited than expected. You can see the results of the study here.
The poll found that a majority of the students would prefer to shop for their own health insurance to take with them no matter where they work than participate in an employer-sponsored health plan. While I’m still a bit unclear on whether these students expectation is that their employer gives them a stipend to buy their own insurance or if they would just prefer other perks or higher salary, I found it very interesting.
According to the study:
- 63% of students prefer health insurance portability. These new grads would prefer to find a health insurance plan on their own and keep it regardless of where they work.
- 37% would prefer to change health insurance plans every time they change jobs.
When I entered the workforce as an employee, I never thought about buying my own health insurance plan. If I were to work full-time for a company and an insurance plan were offered, I would have participated in the employer plan. It wasn’t until I became self-employed did I really start considering my health insurance options.
At the same time, 85% of these college students are counting on their future employers to provide them with health insurance, but 68% of them would rather take a job they liked without healthcare benefits than accept a position they didn’t like with a great healthcare package.
What do you see employer’s doing now to accommodate the expectations of the future workforce?
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Comments
06.16.09
There is less and less cooperate coverage, at least in my state which recently initiated a program that would give up to AN $8,000 tax break to any small business which added employee health coverage. The state did not take into account the number of businesses that dropped their plans because of he cost, no tax benifits extended to them so the gain was probably very little if any. In this state as of this moment, due to an 18 percent increase in insurance premiums this year across the board, there is not much happening, businesses are either dropping it or making employees pay for a large part of it.
Interestingly enough there is some indication that slightly older people, meaning those over 25 or 26, are more willing to take jobs they are over qualified for even at a much lower salary than they are used to in order to get health insurance. The problem for them is that the employer, be it a think tank giving a fellowship, a media outlet, or a government agency, are not hiring them because they are over qualified and the job descriptions are for people who have potential but are not yet cooked.
So people my age expect it but would take a job other wise and people slightly older and possible wiser would take a job they are over prepared for just to get it...
That is what I am seeing
06.16.09
None of the employers I have had since college provided healthcare plans. I've always had to purchase it on my own.
The single biggest benefit of doing it this way is exactly what you said in your post: I've kept the same insurance through 4 jobs and periods of unemployment or self-employment. I've also found that I pay less than most of my friends who buy into their work plans do.
However, this is because my coverage isn't as good. My insurance doesn't cover prescriptions or pregnancy at the moment. Which is fine, so long as I don't need either of those things. And that I have a pretty good degree of control over. The other problem is that I have to re-apply any time I want to change the kind of coverage I have, so anything that comes up could be considered "pre-existing" the next time I want to make a change to my coverage. I'm extremely wary of going to the doctor unnecessarily, just in case they find something that will prevent me from being covered in the future.
Really, neither way works well. I don't want to have to take (and keep) a certain kind of job just to have affordable coverage, but there are definite negatives to purchasing it on your own, too.
06.29.09
"At the same time, 85% of these college students are counting on their future employers to provide them with health insurance, but 68% of them would rather take a job they liked without healthcare benefits than accept a position they didn’t like with a great healthcare package."
How many of that 68% have chronic medical conditions that require expensive treatment? Just curious.
06.29.09
It's easy to say you're prefer to buy your own insurance when you're young and cheap to insure. Once you're looking at a $500/mo premium unstead of $100, it's a whole different story. And if you have a preexisting condition, good luck getting coverage at all.
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