Healthcare coverage has been a hot button issue for employers since President Obama signed the Affordable Care Act (ACA) into law in 2010. With President-elect Donald Trump taking office, there has been much speculation over whether or not the ACA will be repealed. Only time will tell if the ACA survives a Trump presidency, but in the meantime a new report looks at how much time an employee must spend working in order to pay for their health insurance coverage.
The Paychex report, “Weeks Worked to Afford a Health Care Plan: Exploring the Cost,” calculates how many weeks of work, on average, it takes for employees in various occupations, industries, and states to earn enough to cover their health insurance. Calculations were based off of compiled wage data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) and the Pew Trusts State Employee Health Care Report. Using the BLS data, the median weekly wage was determined by multiplying the median hourly wage by 40.
Time Worked by Industry and Occupation
According to the Paychex report, when it comes to which industry has to work the most hours in order to pay for health insurance, it’s no surprise that the food industry takes top billing. The food service industry is notorious for paying low wages and requiring long hours. Employees in this industry must work, on average, a little over 2 weeks a year to pay for their individual health benefits. However, on the other end of the spectrum, employees in the legal industry only have to work, on average, one half of a week to coverage their individual health benefits.
The report also looked at specific occupations and how long employees in these roles would have to work. Again, it found that occupations in the food industry have to work the most. On average, wait staff will have to work a little over 4 weeks in order to afford their individual healthcare coverage, while doctors and dentists don’t even have to work a full day to pay for theirs.
Time Worked by State
The report also looks at which state’s employees have to work the most, and least, in order to afford healthcare coverage. There were regional variations in how many weeks, on average, employees must work to pay for their individual (with no dependents) healthcare plans. Overall, states in the upper Midwest, along with Texas, and Oklahoma, divert the lowest funds toward health plans, while much of the West, Northeast, and South must save more money for insurance.
However, Hawaiian workers work the most out of any other state in order to pay for their individual health plans. In Hawaii, it takes workers an average of 3 weeks of work per year to pay for individual health plans. For family health plans, North Carolina workers must work over 9 weeks; Paychex says this is because “employers pay the brunt of the cost for employee-only coverage, but employees are completely responsible for the added cost of coverage for dependents.”
Employer Takeaway
Employers and HR professionals should take this report into consideration when planning compensation and benefits packaging. As the cost of healthcare rises, offering a robust benefits package is a great way to attract and retain talent. The infographic below highlights more findings from this report. To view the full report, click here.
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Melissa Blazejak is a Senior Web Content Editor at BLR. She has written articles for HR.BLR.com and the HR Daily Advisor websites and is responsible for the day-to-day management of HR.BLR.com and HRLaws.com. She has been at BLR since 2014. She graduated with a BA of Science, specializing in Communication, from Eastern Connecticut State University in 2008. Most recently, she graduated in 2014 with a MS of Educational Technology.