Managed competition and a health insurance exchange appear to be the primary proposed vehicles for expanding Americans' access to health insurance coverage. For managed competition to work, most analysts agree that a number of components will need to be included: individual mandates, risk...

Over the past few decades, policy makers have considered employer mandates as a strategy for stemming the tide of declining health insurance coverage. In this paper we examine the long term effects of the only employer health insurance mandate that has ever been enforced in the United States,...

The CARES Act provides cash flow relief for “qualified individuals” with savings and retirement benefits by enhancing provisions for direct loans and indirect loans (repayable distributions) of those individual's benefits. IRS Notice 2020-23 similarly extends due dates for pension plan loan...

The CARES Act provides cash flow relief for qualified individuals with savings and retirement benefits by enhancing provisions for direct loans and indirect loans (repayable distributions) of such benefits. Both the IRS and DOL have recently issued guidance with respect coronavirus-related...

The CARES Act forgives federal student loan payments with due dates between March 27, 2020 and September 30, 2020 and suspends the minimum required distribution rules for distributions otherwise due during the 2020 calendar year. The CARES Act also provides cash flow relief for qualified...

This paper evaluates the labor market effects of sick pay mandates in the United States. Using the National Compensation Survey and difference-in-differences models, we estimate their impact on coverage rates, sick leave use, labor costs, and non-mandated fringe benefits. Sick pay mandates...

Employer-provided health benefits for workers who retire before age 65 has fallen over the last decade. We examine a cohort of male workers from the Health and Retirement Survey to explore the dynamics of retiree health benefits and the relationship between retiree health benefits and retirement...

This paper examines whether offering a health savings account (HSA)-eligible health plan for free, alongside other health plan options with a premium, alters employee enrollment choices; and if responders differ by health status. The data for this study come from two large employers and cover...

This paper examines fundamental tax reform as it relates to employment-based health benefits and health insurance. It focuses on the specifics of the Bush proposal, but the issues apply to the overall concept of changing the way health insurance is taxed. It summarizes the current tax treatment...

This paper examines the notion that employers have reached a tipping point over health costs and will cease offering health care benefits to their workers. In the end, an evaluation of recent data does not suggest that the end of employment-based health benefits is upon us. However, the message...