This annual survey of employers provides a detailed look at trends in employer-sponsored health coverage, including premiums, employee contributions, cost-sharing provisions, offer rates, wellness programs, and employer practices. The 2021 survey included 1,686 interviews with non-federal public and private firms.
Annual premiums for employer-sponsored family health coverage reached $22,221 this year, up 4% from last year, with workers on average paying $5,969 toward the cost of their coverage. The average deductible among covered workers in a plan with a general annual deductible is $1,669 for single coverage. Fifty-eight percent of small firms and 99% of large firms offer health benefits to at least some of their workers, with an overall offer rate of 59%. This year’s report also looks at changes employers made to their health benefits due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Survey results are released in several formats, including a full report with downloadable tables on a variety of topics, a summary of findings, and an article published in the journal Health Affairs.
NEWS RELEASE
- A news release announcing the publication of the 2021 Employer Health Benefits Survey is available.
SUMMARY OF FINDINGS
- The Summary of Findings provides an overview of the 2021 survey results and is available under the Summary of Findings tab.
FULL REPORT
- The complete Employer Health Benefits Survey report includes over 200 exhibits and is available under the Report tab. The “Report” tab contains 13 separate sections. Users can view each section separately or download the section exhibits from the right side of the respective section page.
HEALTH AFFAIRS
WEB BRIEFING
- A recording of a Nov. 10 web briefing highlighting key findings from the 2021 report will be available.
INTERACTIVE GRAPHIC
CHARTPACK
- More than 20 overview slides from the 2021 Employer Health Benefits Survey are available as a slideshow.
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
- Standard errors for selected estimates are available in the Technical Supplement here.
- Employer Health Benefits Surveys from 1998–2020 are available here. Please note that historic survey reports have not been revised with methodological changes.
- Researchers may request a public use dataset by going to Contact Us and choosing “TOPIC: Health Costs.”
