Poll Says Most Adults with Employer-Provided Health Insurance Would Skip Pay Raise to Maintain Benefits

U.S. adults whose employers provide them with health insurance are more likely to say that their health insurance benefits have gotten worse over the last two or three years compared to their salary or their retirement benefits.

At the same time, an increasing number of adults with employer-provided health insurance say that maintaining or improving their current level of health insurance is more important to them than getting a decent pay increase and that if faced with a choice, they would choose to forego a pay increase but maintain their current health insurance benefits.

These are some of the results of a Harris Interactive online survey of 2,299 U.S. adults conducted between July 22 and 26, 2005 for The Wall Street Journal Online’s Health Industry Edition.

Specific results from this poll include:

* More than two-in-five (43%) adults with employer-provided health
insurance say their health insurance benefits have gotten worse over the last two or three years, compared to 14 percent who say their salary has gotten worse and 18 percent who say their retirement benefits have gotten worse.

* Compared to 2003, the percentage of adults with employer-provided health insurance who say their health insurance benefits have gotten worse over the last two or three years has remained steady (42% in 2003 vs. 43% now), while the percentages have dropped for those saying their retirement benefits (27% in 2003 vs. 18% now) or their salary (18% in 2003 vs. 14% now) has gotten worse.

* A majority (59%) of adults with employer-provided health insurance say that when looking to the next year, it is more important for them to get a decent pay increase than it is to maintain or improve their current level of health insurance. However, more than a third (35%) say maintaining their current benefit level is more important, an increase of six percentage points from 2003.

* A majority (61%) of adults with employer-provided health insurance say that if faced with a choice, they would choose to have no pay increase but maintain their current health insurance benefit, compared to 56 percent who felt this way in 2003. Approximately three-in-ten (29%) say they would choose to get a decent pay increase and take a significant cut in their health insurance benefits.

If faced with significantly higher out-of pocket costs for healthcare, adults with employer-provided health insurance are more likely to try to save money elsewhere to help cover these costs (40%) rather than curtail their use of healthcare services or products (20%) or search for less expensive coverage (26%). These adults say they would be most likely to try to save money by:

* Putting more money in a health savings or reimbursement account to prepare for future healthcare expenses (19%)

* Putting more money in personal savings accounts to prepare for future healthcare expenses (11%)

* Spending less money on other things (10%).

A small percentage (4%) say they would be most likely to drop their health insurance coverage all together while a further 11 percent are not sure what they would do.