Providing health insurance to small-businesses through a subsidy demonstration program

Growing numbers of working Americans are uninsured. Rising insurance premiums continue to limit the ability of employers to provide health coverage. We evaluated a pilot program designed to make health insurance more affordable for small businesses, and surveyed employers to ascertain whether they found the subsidy program beneficial-especially in terms of attracting and retaining employees. Ninety-seven employers (66%) enrolled in the subsidy program responded. For most employers (82%) this was their first experience providing health insurance. Satisfaction with the program was strong (83%), and most agreed that providing health insurance had a positive effect on employee attitude and retention.