SUMMARYOFFINDINGS AVAILABILITYOFEMPLOYER-SPONSOREDCOVERAGE Fifty-three percent of firms offer health benefits to at least some of their workers, similar to the percentage last year [Figure G]. Eighty-ninepercentofworkersareinafirmthatoffershealthbenefitstoatleastsomeofitsworkers. Overthepastdecade,the percentageofworkersatsmallfirmsthatofferhealthbenefitstoatleastsomeworkershasdecreased(78%vs73%). Thelikelihoodofofferinghealthbenefitsdifferssignificantlybyfirmsize,withonly40%offirmswith3to9workersoffering coveragewhilevirtuallyallfirmswith1,000ormoreworkersoffercoverage. Eveninfirmsthatofferhealthbenefits,someworkersarenoteligibletoenroll(e.g.,waitingperiodsorpart-timeortemporary workstatus)andotherswhoareeligiblechoosenottoenroll(e.g.,theyfeelthecoverageistooexpensiveortheyarecovered throughanothersource). Infirmsthatoffercoverage,79%ofworkersareeligibleforthehealthbenefitsoffered,andofthose eligible, 78% take up the firm’s offer, resulting in 62% of workers in offering firms enrolling in coverage through their employer. All of these percentages are similar to 2016. Lookingacrossworkersbothinfirmsthatofferandthosethatdonotofferhealthbenefits,55%ofworkersarecoveredby healthplansofferedbytheiremployer. CoverageforFamilymembers. Amongfirmsofferinghealthbenefits,virtuallyalllargefirmsand94%ofsmallfirmsoffer coveragetospousesofeligibleworkers. Similarly,virtuallyalllargefirmsand92%ofsmallfirmsofferinghealthbenefitsoffer coveragetootherdependentsoftheireligibleworkers,suchaschildren. RETIREECOVERAGE Ofthelargefirmsofferinghealthbenefitstoworkersin2017,25%alsoofferhealthbenefitstoretirees,similartothe percentagein2016(24%). Amonglargefirmsthatofferretireehealthbenefits,95%offerhealthbenefitstoearlyretirees (workersretiringbeforeage65)and66%offerhealthbenefitstoMedicare-ageretirees. Twenty-sixpercentoflargefirms The Kaiser Family Foundation and Health Research & Educational Trust / Page 10