Massachusetts Employer Survey

NEW!

The 2024 Massachusetts Employer Survey is currently “in the field.” This survey asks Massachusetts employers to share their experiences and challenges in offering health insurance to their employees.

This survey is a way for CHIA to gather information about employer-sponsored health insurance coverage in Massachusetts, and CHIA will release a summary report of key findings from the survey.

CHIA would like to thank those businesses, agencies, and organizations involved for their time and participation in completing the survey and for helping to contribute to a more transparent health care system.

If you have been invited to take the survey, please learn more and complete the survey here.

2021 Massachusetts Employer Survey

The majority of Massachusetts residents obtain health insurance through their own or a family member’s employer. Employer-sponsored insurance shapes the health insurance markets in the state and impacts the demand for the state’s public insurance programs, including MassHealth.

The Massachusetts Employer Survey (MES), an ongoing health insurance survey of employers, tracks and monitors employer health insurance offerings, employee take-up rates, cost-sharing, plan characteristics, and employer decision making. It was conducted on a biennial basis from 2001 through 2009; then in 2010, 2011, 2014, 2016, 2018 and 2021. Data collection for the biennial MES began in 2020; however, due to the disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic to Massachusetts businesses, data collection was paused in March 2020. This most recent survey was fielded from May – January 2022.

In order to provide a better understanding of the employer health insurance market in the Commonwealth, the 2024 MES has several key updates including new questions on employee composition in firms by race/ethnicity, new and revised questions on fringe benefits offered by employers, revised language on remote work to address hybrid work situations and employees working out-of-state, and new questions on telehealth coverage and service models offered to employees.

Did you receive an email invitation with a login ID and password to participate in the 2024 MES on behalf of your organization? Take the survey here.

Key Findings from the 2021 Massachusetts Employer Survey

• Most Massachusetts firms (74%) offered health insurance to their employees in 2021, and at a higher rate than firms nationally (59%).

• Nearly half of employees (46%) were enrolled in a high deductible health plan (HDHP), and over one-third (35%) were enrolled in a HDHP with a savings option.

• Average total monthly premium for single coverage was $715 in Massachusetts, higher than the national average of $645.

• Since January 2020, firms have expanded access to telehealth, waived or reduced cost-sharing for COVID-19 treatment, and expanded access to behavioral health services (49%, 18% and 7%).