Data analyzed by

State Health Compare

Average annual employer sponsored insurance premium

Measure Overview

Annual employer-sponsored insurance (ESI) premiums have steadily increased over the past decade. Tracking the cost of average annual ESI premiums can help state policymakers and health plan administrators evaluate affordability of and access to health care coverage.

State Health Compare provides annual state-level measures of ESI premiums from the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey – Insurance Component (MEPS-IC).* This measure shows the average annual premium for private sector workers who receive health insurance through an employer. Data can be stratified by plan type (either single plans or family plans).

*As SHADAC and other organizations have documented, the COVID-19 pandemic was the cause of several substantial disruptions to data collection efforts for the 2020 MEPS-IC, which may have potential impacts on 2020 single-year estimates of annual average ESI premiums. Researchers should approach using 2020 data with caution, and SHADAC will continue to monitor any future changes to federal data releases directly or indirectly related to the pandemic.

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Exploring Cost and Coverage Rates in Employer-Sponsored Insurance (Infographic)

In this blog and accompanying infographic, SHADAC researchers use data from the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey-Insurance Component (MEPS-IC) to analyze private-sector Employer Sponsored Insurance and provide an initial snapshot of estimates for 2022 on a national level and within the states.




A National-Level Look at ESI Cost and Coverage Rates

Data from the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey-Insurance Component (MEPS-IC) show employer-sponsored health insurance (ESI) remains the largest single source of coverage for most Americans, with 62.2 million private-sector workers enrolled in ESI in 2021. SHADAC’s analysis of 2021 MEPS-IC ESI data provides an overview of employee access to coverage and the costs associated with coverage plans.