NU Online News Service, Feb. 28, 2005, 8:04 p.m. EST
About 28% of full-time employees believe employer-sponsored medical insurance costs less than $1,000 per year.[@@]
Researchers from MetLife Inc., New York, have published that finding in a report based on a recent survey of 903 full-time employees at companies with at least 2 employees and 1,542 voting-age consumers. The full-time employees were all at least 21.
Only 27% of the full-type employees understood that a typical employer-sponsored health plan costs about $4,000 or more per year per employee, the researchers found.
The researchers cite figures from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, Menlo Park, Calif., that suggest that the average cost of employer-sponsored coverage is $3,137 for single coverage and $7,289 for family coverage.
The percentage of employees who like their employers' benefits package has increased to 36%, from 32%, but only 31% give their employers' benefits communications programs high marks.
The employees themselves admit that they spend little time considering benefits decisions: 57% told researchers they spend 30 minutes or less making benefits decisions during open enrollment.
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