Dataset Information

Changes in employer-sponsored private health insurance among retirees in Ontario: a cross-sectional study.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Employer-sponsored health insurance, particularly for retirees with limited incomes, plays a major funding role in Canadian health care, including prescription drugs and dental services. We aimed to investigate the changes in retiree health insurance availability over time.

Methods

We performed a secondary analysis of data from the 2005 and 2013-2014 cycles of the Canadian Community Health Survey using multivariate logistic regression to study changes in retiree coverage availability over time in Ontario. We estimated the adjusted odds ratios of having employer coverage for likely retirees (people over age 65 yr who reported not working and those over age 75 yr), adjusting for a number of potential confounders. Sensitivity analysis was also performed for coverage of different treatments separately.

Results

The response rate was 76% for the 2005 cycle and 66% for 2013-2014 for the entire survey. The characteristics of respondents in the 2 survey cycles were similar, except respondents in 2013-2014 were wealthier. In our adjusted model, respondents in 2013-2014 had lower odds of reporting retiree coverage than respondents in 2005 (adjusted odds ratio 0.87; 95% confidence interval 0.77-0.99). This represents an absolute reduction in the probability of receiving retiree coverage of up to 3.4%.

Interpretation

Our analysis suggests that the rate of retiree health insurance has declined for Canadians with similar characteristics over the past decade. As we know insurance coverage has a strong association with use of treatments such as prescription drugs and dental care, this decline may result in decreased access to treatment and is an issue that warrants further investigation.

SUBMITTER: Chan FKI

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6342701 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Jan-Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Changes in employer-sponsored private health insurance among retirees in Ontario: a cross-sectional study.

Chan Fiona K I FKI McGrail Kimberlyn K Majumdar Sumit R SR Law Michael R MR

CMAJ open 20190121 1

<h4>Background</h4>Employer-sponsored health insurance, particularly for retirees with limited incomes, plays a major funding role in Canadian health care, including prescription drugs and dental services. We aimed to investigate the changes in retiree health insurance availability over time.<h4>Methods</h4>We performed a secondary analysis of data from the 2005 and 2013-2014 cycles of the Canadian Community Health Survey using multivariate logistic regression to study changes in retiree coverag ...[more]

PMID: 30665895

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Dataset Information

Changes in employer-sponsored private health insurance among retirees in Ontario: a cross-sectional study.

Background

Methods

Results

Interpretation

Publications

Changes in employer-sponsored private health insurance among retirees in Ontario: a cross-sectional study.

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