A look at Vermont employers’ health insurance offerings

A new study of employers in the Vermont Business Roundtable shows the vast majority are providing health plans that do not shift a lot of cost onto their employees. Most VBR members offer either “gold” plans, in which employees cover between 10 and 20 percent of their annual health care costs, or “platinum” plans, where employees, on average, pay no more than 10 percent of the annual costs.

The study also looked at the employer’s cost, as a percentage of payroll, of the health care plans being offered by VBR members. Half of the members reported costs that were 10.1 percent of payroll or higher. VBR members employ more than 10 percent of Vermont’s work force.

The Vermont Business Roundtable conducted the study, which was based on data collection and analysis by Public Assets Institute, to help inform the public debate as Vermont moves forward with a plan to provide universal health care coverage in the state.

“This survey is important because for the first time we now have a baseline of data from an important segment of Vermont employers, including some of the state’s largest and most iconic private and not-for-profit sector companies, which can be used to evaluate the impacts of various health care reform proposals as they emerge over the coming months and years,” VBR President Lisa Ventriss said in a statement when the study was released. “The findings should be of much interest to policymakers throughout Vermont.”

The full study and other information about the Vermont Business Roundtable are available at the VBR website.