Ohio's Small Group Health Insurance Market provides an overview of how to make health coverage more affordable.

Ohio's Small Group Health Insurance Market: What Can Be Done to Make Coverage More Affordable?

Download Ohio's Small Group Health Insurance Market
(July 2006, pdf format, 2.2 MB)
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Facing double-digit or near double-digit growth in health insurance premiums, many small employers in Ohio and the nation have either eliminated health benefits or significantly increased cost-sharing among employees. About 73 percent of Ohio’s small firms (defined as 2 to 50 employees) offer health insurance coverage compared to 95 percent of Ohio firms with over 50 employees.  Just over 40 percent of Ohio’s working uninsured (approximately 225,000 Ohioans) work for a small employer.

On July 14, 2006, the Health Policy Institute of Ohio brought together policymakers and stakeholders in a policy luncheon entitled " Small Employer, Big Crisis: Health Insurance Affordability, Market Reforms, and Policy Challenges" to explore these statistics and the underlying challenges of the small group health insurance market, as well as to gain insight into potential policy options.

The issue report from this forum provides an overview of this subject, featuring such topics as challenges faced by small group employers, recent reforms and federal initiatives, state options for addressing affordability of coverage, and information about possible reforms to Ohio's small group market. To download the issue report, use the link above.

For more on the forum itself, including participant presentations, go here.