The Rising Cost of Employer-Sponsored Health Insurance and Evolution of the U.S. Wage Structure

In order to receive tax exemptions for health insurance contributions, employers must contribute the same amount of money towards every worker’s health insurance, regardless of salary. This uniform per-worker premium cost makes hiring a non-college educated worker more expensive than hiring a college worker. Doctoral student in economics Jessica Min will investigate how firms adjust their hiring practices in response to increasing health insurance premiums. She will analyze Form 5500 data, Longitudinal Employer-Household Dynamics data, EEOC-1 Form data, data from the American Community Survey, and health insurer ownership data for her study.