Center for Survey Research - Stony Brook University

In the current economic climate, non-retired Americans continue to be more concerned about job-related health care (and other) benefits than salary, by a striking margin. Despite recent improvements in the economy, the importance of health care benefits has changed very little from a year ago. When asked whether they would choose a higher paying job without health benefits or a lower salary with health coverage if they had to look for a job in the coming year, a large majority of non-retired Americans report a preference for employment that carries health benefits. A willingness to trade health benefits for salary occurs across the economic spectrum – it is equally prevalent among professional and blue collar workers, those without a high school diploma and college graduates, and members of high and low income households. Even younger people aged between 18 and 34 place greater emphasis on a job with benefits (57%) than one with a higher salary (42%).

	Non-retired
	June ‘04	August ‘04
Health coverage & lower salary	68%	71%
Higher salary & no health coverage	28%	24%

Moreover, when Americans are asked to separately rate the importance of different job attributes, they continue to rate health insurance, job security, and retirement benefits as more important than a high salary when they think about taking a new job. The differences are stark; just over 70% of non-retired Americans rate good health care benefits as very important compared to 45% who say the same about a high salary.

American workers are generally satisfied with the current level of their benefits, but there are signs that this satisfaction is declining. In August of last year, 65% of workers were satisfied with their health care benefits; this had gone down to 58% in June of 2004. There was a similar drop in satisfaction with current retirement benefits (from 60% to 54%). Satisfaction with job security (80%) and salary (74%) remained at much the same level as ten months ago.

There is also evidence that workers are increasingly willing to trade a salary increase for expanded health benefits. Current workers would generally prefer a salary increase in the coming year over expanded medical coverage, but this preference has weakened since August, 2003. Just over 5 in 10 (54%) now prefer to receive a pay increase compared to just over 4 in 10 who prefer better health benefits (41%). This represents an increase in a preference for health care benefits compared to August of last year when 61% had preferred a pay increase over 36% who wanted improved medical coverage. There was actually a preference for expanded health care benefits over salary among less well educated workers (29% preferred an increased salary compared to 63% who preferred expanded medical coverage) and those who currently lack health insurance (59% preferred expanded health benefits).

There is considerable anxiety among those covered by employer or union-provided health insurance that benefits will be cut back or be dropped altogether in the coming year. Over 4 in ten worry that their benefits will be scaled back in the coming year and this concern is more pronounced among individuals with current benefits who live in low income households. In addition, just under 3 in ten of those covered by an employer or union health scheme worry that they will lose benefits entirely. These concerns are slightly weaker than a year ago.

Anxiety about losing health insurance coverage is compounded for many Americans by the additional fear that they could not afford to purchase private health insurance coverage. More than a half of all individuals currently receiving health insurance through an employer or union said they could not afford to purchase health insurance on their own and this response was more common among women (62%) than men (47%) and those living in lower than higher income households. Moreover, the number of people who feel they could not afford private health insurance had gone up over the last ten months from 50% to 55%.

The poll was conducted between June 5 and June 27 the Stony Brook University Center for Survey Research. 810 adults were interviewed from across the nation. The poll is based on an RDD nationally representative sample of telephone numbers drawn from blocks with at least one-listed residential number. Up to 7 contact attempts were made at each selected household and individuals were selected at random within households. Findings are weighted using post-stratification weights for age, gender and census region in accordance with 2002 national Census statistics. The margin of error is plus/minus 3.4 percentage points for the entire sample and is slightly higher for non-retired, currently employed and other subsets of respondents discussed in this report. Non-retired respondents include current workers, the unemployed, students and non-retired homemakers.

If you had to look for a job in the coming year and were forced to choose, would you prefer a job with HEALTH COVERAGE and LOWER salary, or a HIGHER paying job that LACKED any health benefits?

Very important	45	37
Somewhat important	47	53
Not very important	6	6
Not at all important	1	3
DK/NA	1.4	1

When you think about taking a new job, how important are GOOD HEALTH CARE BENEFITS?

Very important	71	73
Somewhat important	22	19
Not very important	5	6
Not at all important	1	2
DK/NA	1	<1

When you think about taking a new job, how important are GOOD RETIREMENT BENEFITS?

Very important	69	66
Somewhat important	24	24
Not very important	5	7
Not at all important	1	2
DK/NA	1	1

Very important	72	71
Somewhat important	22	21
Not very important	4	5
Not at all important	1	2
DK/NA	1	1

Thinking about your current job, how satisfied are you with your HEALTH CARE BENEFITS?

Very satisfied	30	33
Somewhat satisfied	28	32
Somewhat dissatisfied	12	8
Very dissatisfied	16	12
Job does not provide health care benefits	12	13
DK/NA	3	2

Thinking about your current job, how satisfied are you with your RETIREMENT BENEFITS?

Very satisfied	22	22
Somewhat satisfied	32	38
Somewhat dissatisfied	10	10
Very dissatisfied	22	13
Job does not provide retirement benefits	12	15
DK/NA	3	2

Very satisfied	48	52
Somewhat satisfied	32	29
Somewhat dissatisfied	7	10
Very dissatisfied	8	8
DK/NA	5	1

If you had to choose, would you prefer a PAY INCREASE in the coming year or IMPROVED MEDICAL COVERAGE?

Are you personally covered by a health insurance plan right now, including Medicare or Medicaid?

	*Total Respondents*
	June ‘04	August ‘03
Yes	82	81
No	17	19
DK/NA	1	<1

Is your health insurance provided through a union, your employer, or another family member's employer, or did you purchase a private plan yourself?

	*Has insurance, not Medicare*
	June ‘04	August ‘03
Union	6	6
Employer	53	50
Family member’s employer	22	23
Purchased privately	16	15
DK/NA	3	6

How worried are you that your health benefits will be cut back in the coming year?

	*Insurance from union, employer/ family member’s employer*
	June ‘04	August ‘03
Very worried	17	17
Somewhat worried	27	33
Not very worried	31	26
Not at all worried	24	23
DK/NA	2	1

How worried are you about losing your health insurance coverage in the coming year?

	*Insurance from union, employer/ family member’s employer*
	June ‘04	August ‘03
Very worried	9	11
Somewhat worried	17	18
Not very worried	30	28
Not at all worried	43	41
DK/NA	1	1

If you lost your current health insurance coverage, could you afford to purchase health insurance on your own?

	*Insurance from union, employer/ family member’s employer*
	June ‘04	August ‘03
Yes	39	46
No	55	50
DK/NA