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EBRI's Financial Wellbeing Research Center Bringing Data Mining to Bear

"EBRI is fortunate in having decades of experience in developing and mining retirement and health benefits data. Leveraging this experience, in 2018, EBRI undertook its initial steps in creating a financial wellness database that it will mine to help employers, policymakers, and the industry better understand how financial wellness initiatives move the dial on employee financial wellbeing.... Over time, our goal will be to demonstrate links to overall wellbeing by tying in claims data as well."

EBRI Testimony: Trends in Employment-Based Health Benefits for Workers and Retirees (PDF)

EBRI President's Report, Fall 2011 (PDF)

The EBRI Center for Research on Innovation in Health Benefits, under the leadership of Director Paul Fronstin, has built an initial database of claims information on nearly 15 million workers and will soon publish study results on pre- and post-conversion behavior and cost.

Student Loan Debt Is Weighing Heavily on Employees -- and Employers

"[T]he most common way that employers engaging with employees on student loan debt say they are offering financial wellness solutions is via pilot programs (38 percent). And the most common challenge such employers face is complexity of the programs (48 percent) and challenges in making the business case to upper management (45 percent)."

Additional Preventive Care Benefits Permitted Under High-Deductible Health Plans: A Game Changer?

"[G]rowth in HSA-eligible health plan enrollments may also be held back because what constitutes an HSA-eligible health plan does not provide employers their desired level of flexibility around the design of the health plan -- specifically, the flexibility to provide benefits prior to when the minimum deductible for that year is satisfied. That game changer may now be here."

The Tortuous History of HRAs: What Does the Future Hold?

"Which employers would go in this direction, under what circumstances, and for which employees? Would it vary by firm size? Do the strength of the economy and labor market conditions factor in? ... Employers may decide that they no longer need to offer health benefits to be competitive in the labor market during the next recession, and the combination of the insurance market reforms and the ability to give workers tax-free money to purchase health insurance on their own may finally put the future of employment-based health coverage to the test."

The Impact of Single Payer Health Care and Other Public Policy Proposals on Employment-Based Health Benefits (PDF)

12 pages. "There are pros and cons of having an employment-based health benefits system. Furthermore, it is debatable as to whether there is an alternative to the employment-based system, such as single payer health care, that would produce higher quality care, better service and lower price. This article explores these issues in greater detail."

Employees Facing 'Shockingly Higher' Health Costs

Excerpt: It's open enrollment time at work. Prepare yourself. Starting in 2010, your employer is making sure that when it comes to paying for your health care, you're going to be sharing much more of the burden. 'The headline is greater cost sharing,' said Tom Billet, senior consultant with human resources consultancy Watson Wyatt. 'That means higher [employee] contributions, higher deductibles, or both,' he said. In 2010, employers are 'putting everything on the table,' implementing benefit changes aimed at making workers more aware of the actual cost of services,' said Paul Fronstin, director of the health research program at the Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI), a public policy research group.

How Many on Medicare Will Lose Retiree Health Benefits if Medicare Covers Prescription Drugs? (PDF)

Economic Turbulence Is Raising Concerns About Health Care Costs

Excerpt: The economic downturn has heightened concerns about rising health care costs, making employees more aware of how they consume health care, according to a survey published Tuesday, October 7, by the Employee Benefit Research Institute. Though Americans said they remain confident they will be able to get the treatment they need, general economic woes have heightened people's concerns about health care cost increases, said Paul Fronstin, director of health research and education at EBRI in Washington.