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Description & Citation--Study No. 3383

Bibliographic Description

ICPSR Study No.:3383
 
Persistent URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR03383
 
Title:California Healthcare Foundation/Mercer Small Business Health Insurance Survey, 2000
 
Principal Investigator(s):William M. Mercer, Inc.
 
Funding Agency:California HealthCare Foundation
 
Grant Number:99-4014
 
Bibliographic Citation:William M. Mercer, Inc. California Healthcare Foundation/Mercer Small Business Health Insurance Survey, 2000 [Computer file]. ICPSR03383-v1. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2002. doi:10.3886/ICPSR03383
 

Scope of Study

Summary:This study examined employee health plan sponsorship among California businesses that employed between 2 and 50 individuals to determine why some employers offer health insurance plans and some do not. Businesses were divided into two groups: employers that offered health insurance and those that did not offer health insurance. Separate questionnaires were used for the two groups, but many questions in the two surveys were identical so that the two groups of businesses could be compared. Respondents were asked whether health care coverage was available to full-time and/or part-time employees and retirees, and whether domestic partners (same-sex and/or opposite-sex) were eligible as dependents. Employers who offered health care coverage to their employees listed the types of medical plans that they offered, in both 1999 and 2000, and the number of employees enrolled in the plans. The plan types were traditional indemnity, Preferred Provider Organization (PPO), Point-of-Service (POS), and Health Maintenance Organization (HMO). Employers also described employee and employer contributions toward health care premiums, the kinds of freestanding plans (e.g., vision, dental, substance abuse / mental health) they offered, and whether they expected health benefit costs to increase or decrease. Respondents also rated the likelihood of their organization reducing benefits and raising employee contributions. Employers that did not offer their employees health care coverage were asked if they had ever offered coverage, whether they had seriously considered starting to offer health insurance to their employees, whether they had gotten a quote for health insurance, and how likely it was that they would offer health insurance in the next two years. Employers that did not currently offer health insurance were also asked to estimate the cost to their company of health insurance, how much they would be willing to pay for employee health insurance, and whether they would need to reduce wages or benefits to pay for the insurance. All employers were asked whether they had applied for insurance and been turned down, the number of years they had been in business, and whether the Internet had been used as a source of information about health insurance. Respondents described other benefits they offered their employees and answered a number of factual questions about health insurance, such as whether employer contributions to health insurance premiums for employees were tax-deductible. Respondents also gave their opinions on a number of other items, such as whether an HMO could meet the needs of their organization. Employers were asked whether they were familiar with various means of purchasing and providing health insurance, such as Section 125 plans or purchasing alliances, and, if they provided health insurance, which method they had used. General characteristics of each business were recorded, including number of employees, type of business, the proportion of full-time, part-time, and seasonal/temporary employees, how many employees had been hired and how many had left in the previous 12 months, number of employees at different salary levels, whether the owner of the organization was a woman, and the proportion of employees that were female or members of ethnic minority groups.
 
Subject Term(s):businesses, employee benefits, employees, employers, health care, health care costs, health insurance, Health Maintenance Organizations
 
Geographic Coverage:California, United States
 
Time Period:January 1999 - December 2000
 
Date(s) of Collection:October 18, 2000 - December 22, 2000
 
Universe:California employers with 2-50 employees.
 
Data Type:survey data
 
Data Collection Notes:The codebook is provided by ICPSR as a Portable Document Format (PDF) file. The PDF file format was developed by Adobe Systems Incorporated and can be accessed using PDF reader software, such as the Adobe Acrobat Reader. Information on how to obtain a copy of the Acrobat Reader is provided on the ICPSR Web site.
 

Methodology

Sample:A random sample was drawn from a database of private employers, stratified by employer size (3-9 employees, 10-24 employees, and 25-49 employees), single-site versus multiple-site employers, and location (Los Angeles versus the rest of California). In the case of multi-site establishments, only the parent company was sampled. Employers with either 2 or 50 employees -- one less and one more than the targeted size -- were also eligible.
 
Data Source:telephone interviews
 

Access and Availability

Note:A list of the data formats available for this study can be found in the summary of holdings. Detailed file-level information (such as record length, case count, and variable count) is listed in the file manifest.
 
Restrictions:This data collection may not be used for any purpose other than statistical reporting and analysis. Use of these data to learn the identity of any person or establishment is prohibited. To protect respondent privacy, ZIP codes and detailed industry classifications of responding establishments are restricted from general dissemination. To obtain a file containing these variables, researchers must agree to the terms and conditions of a Restricted Data Use Agreement in accordance with existing ICPSR servicing policies.
 
Original ICPSR Release:2002-04-04
 
Dataset(s):
  • DS1: California Healthcare Foundation/Mercer Small Business Health Insurance Survey, 2000
 

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