2021 Employer Health Benefits Survey

Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF): 2021 Employer Health Benefits Survey

The Kaiser Family Foundation released the 2021 Employer Health Benefits Survey, finding that premiums on employer-sponsored plans rose 4% this year and found significant changes in the provision of telehealth and mental health services by employers.

Among firms with at least 50 workers that offer health benefits, almost four in 10 (39%) report making changes to their mental health and substance abuse benefits since the beginning of the pandemic. This includes 31% who increased the ways enrollees can access mental-health services, such as through telemedicine; and 16% who offered new mental health resources, such as an employee assistance program.
Nearly two thirds (65%) of offering firms with at least 50 workers say they made changes related to telemedicine due to the pandemic. Half (51%) did additional promotion of their telemedicine benefits to workers and 31% expanded coverage for additional modes of telemedicine. In addition, nearly a quarter expanded the places where telemedicine could be delivered (24%), expanded the number or types of telemedicine providers (23%), and expanded covered telemedicine services.