Effects of the Vermont Mental Health and Substance Abuse Parity Law

Table IV.4: Recent Changes in the Characteristics of Employer-Sponsored Health Insurance as Reported by Vermont Employers and the Extent to Which Parity Was a Factor in the Change, %

Type of Change All Insured Employers Number of Employees Plan Fundinga Extent to Which Parity Was a Factor in the Changeb
Fewer Than 10 10 to 25 26 to 60 More Than 50 Fully Insured Self-Insured Main or Important Reason One of Many Reasons Not a Reason at All Don't Know
Change in the Level of Health Insurance Premiums                      
   Increased 92.1 91.0 93.3 91.6 92.4** 82.8 93.4* 11.8 9.4 32.3 46.5
   Decreased 2.2 4.1 0.0 1.9 1.4 5.4 1.7 -- -- -- --
   Stayed about the same 5.8 4.6 6.7 6.5 6.2 11.8 4.9 n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a.
Change in the Level of Monitoring of Health                      
   Increased 15.9 9.9 17.2 19.5 25.4*** 29.5 13.8*** 1.2 7.6 13.2 78.1
   Decreased 0.7 0.0 2.0 0.0 0.0 2.6 0.4 -- -- -- --
   Stayed about the same 83.5 90.1 80.8 80.5 74.6 67.9 85.8 n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a.
Change in the Funding of Health Plans(s) from Fully Insured to Self-Insured 4.1 2.6 1.2 6.7 11.9*** 0.0 27.1*** 1.7 1.7 18.0 78.6
Change in the Level of Employee Contribution to Premium Expense                      
   Increased 37.7 27.6 40.3 44.9 50.7*** 36.4 37.9 8.7 4.9 37.9 48.5*
   Decreased 4.1 3.6 4.9 4.4 3.1 5.8 3.8 0.0 0.0 13.9 86.1
   Stayed about the same 58.3 68.8 54.9 50.7 46.1 57.8 58.3 n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a.
Change in Percentage of Eligible Employees Choosing to Participate in Health Plans                      
   Increased 13.5 6.7 19.2 13.6 17.5*** 11.9 23.9* 0.0 0.0 0.0 100.0*
   Decreased 6.7 8.8 3.7 5.8 8.9 7.0 4.4 16.0 0.0 8.3 75.7
   Stayed about the same 79.9 84.5 77.1 80.7 73.6 81.1 71.7 n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a.
Change in Percentage of Eligible Employees Electing Dependent Coverage                      
   Increased 8.8 6.3 7.5 14.8 12.6** 7.3 19.5** 0.0 0.0 0.0 100.0
   Decreased 8.6 9.7 7.5 6.7 10.4 8.9 6.9 12.5 12.9 2.4 72.3
   Stayed about the same 82.6 84.0 85.0 78.5 77.0 83.8 73.6 n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a.
Change in the Number of Health Plan Choices Offered                      
   Increased 8.4 10.4 5.6 9.1 8.9 8.0 11.0 13.1 0.0 11.9 75.0
   Decreased 5.5 5.1 3.4 9.2 7.8 5.6 5.0 15.6 8.0 11.7 64.7
   Stayed the same 86.1 84.5 91.0 81.7 83.3 86.4 83.9 n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a.
Change in any Insurance Coverage from Fee-for-Service to Managed Care                      
   Medical/surgical 5.5 3.2 6.1 5.6 9.6* 5.6 4.5 2.2 10.5 10.3 76.9
   Mental health 4.2 2.1 4.6 5.5 7.5* 4.6 1.8* 3.1 14.8 14.4 67.7
   Substance abuse 4.0 2.1 4.7 3.7 7.5* 4.3 1.8* 3.1 14.8 14.4 67.7
Implementation of a New Employee Assistance Program (EAP)c 1.4 0.0 1.4 1.5 4.7*** 0.8 5.0*** -- -- -- --
Change in the Number of Vermont-Based Employees                      
   Increased 31.8 19.3 36.3 35.8 49.1*** 31.3 35.7 0.0 0.0 0.5 99.5
   Decreased 10.0 12.1 9.6 6.2 9.1 9.7 12.0 0.0 0.0 6.8 93.2
   Stayed about the same 58.2 68.6 54.0 58.0 41.8 59.0 52.4 n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a.
Change in the Absenteeism Rate of Vermont-Based Employees                      
   Increased 8.2 4.1 10.6 9.5 12.0* 8.8 3.6** 0.0 2.5 36.7 60.9
   Decreased 4.0 2.7 4.9 4.2 5.1 4.2 2.7 -- -- -- --
   Stayed about the same 87.8 93.2 84.4 86.3 83.0 87.1 93.7 n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a.
Change in the Productivity Level of Vermont-Based Employees                      
   Increased 28.0 27.7 29.1 25.6 28.6* 26.8 37.0* 0.6 1.7 0.6 97.2
   Decreased 4.4 5.9 1.3 6.4 6.1 3.9 8.5 -- -- -- --
   Stayed about the same 67.6 66.4 69.6 68.0 65.2 69.3 54.5 n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a.
Sources: Mathematica Policy Research Survey of Vermont Employers to Assess the Impact of the Vermont Parity Act.
Note: The survey includes Vermont businesses that were in operation as of January 1, 1998 and that remained in operation as of the time of the survey (fall 2000). The survey excluded those that had, on average, fewer than five employees across establishments in calendar year 1999 and businesses operated by federal and state government entitites. This table is limited to insured businesses only.
a Fully insured employers purchase coverage for their employees from an insurance company or health plan. Self-insured firms pay the claims directly (or through an arrangement with an administrative-services-only contract).
b This question was asked only of fully insured employers where someone had heard of parity.
c This question was asked only of those with an EAP at the time of the survey.
   
n.a. = not applicable; -- = insufficient data.
* Distribution by firm size or plan funding is significantly different than what would be expected by change alone, based on a chi-square test (p<.10).
** Distribution by firm size or plan funding is significantly different than what would be expected by change alone, based on a chi-square test (p<.05).
*** Distribution by firm size or plan funding is significantly different than what would be expected by change alone, based on a chi-square test (p<.01).

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