Who Pays for Employer Sponsored Health Insurance? Evidence and Policy Implications

The question of who pays for employer-sponsored insurance has been debated for decades, with economists holding fast to the theory that workers pay through lower wages, and non-economists by and large responding that employers pay. This paper discusses what the literature says about the incidence of payments for employer-sponsored health insurance, the gaps that remain in our understanding of the issue, and the implications of these matters for current health policy debates. (Health Affairs 1999 November/December; 18(6): 58-61).