Nearly two-thirds of benefit plan sponsors think employer-provided health care should continue to be the primary way individuals receive health insurance, a new survey found.
The survey also found that 25 percent of respondents said the current health care system should be replaced with a government-sponsored system, while 20 percent supported a universal health care system with coverage purchased by individuals.
Many of the respondents—71 percent—said the current U.S. health care system needed an overhaul, with 64 percent of those saying that a uniform, nationwide approach to health care was needed.
Findings from the study, which was conducted by the Brookfield, Wisconsin-based International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans, were based on responses from 1,054 U.S. benefit plan sponsors, trustees and others associated with employee benefits.
While many plan sponsors agree that health care reform is needed, 54 percent don’t expect big changes in the immediate future, and less than half expect major federal reforms on the issue within the next presidential term, the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans said.
“Like many Americans that are struggling with health care, employers are also frustrated with the system, yet they are skeptical that a solution is imminent,” Sally Natchek, senior director of research at the foundation, said in a statement.
The report is available for foundation members for $67; nonmembers may purchase it for $100. The report can be found at www.ifebp.org.
Filed by Jeff Casale of Business Insurance, a sister publication of Workforce Management. To comment, e-mail editors@workforce com.
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