Many people are offered health insurance coverage through their employers. This is noted as Employer Sponsored Health Insurance (ESHI). Due to economic downturns and rising health insurance costs, employers were unable to offer their workers coverage. As a result, the number of uninsured people in America rose to 49.1 million in 2010 because many workers did not have access to ESHI.

On March 23, 2010, President Obama signed the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The law puts in place comprehensive health insurance reforms that will roll out over four years and beyond (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2014). Part of the intent of the Affordable Care Act was to increase coverage for young adults, end arbitrary insurance coverage withdrawal, and to optimize dollars spent on health care and less on administrative costs. Ongoing debate surrounds if the ACA is more or less beneficial to employees with some purporting employers will drop employees from ESHI and force them to enroll in programs under the ACA.

Review the following:

The U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. (n.d.). Get covered: A one-page guide to the health insurance marketplace.

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (n.d.). About the law.

In this assignment, you will research and describe the association between the uninsured population and employer-sponsored health insurance (ESHI). You will further compare and contrast any potential influence of the Affordable Care Act upon employer and employee decision making about ESHI.

Using the required readings for this module and your own research, complete the following:

Describe the characteristics of the uninsured in your state.

Discuss at least one type of health insurance structure in detail. Do you prefer the health insurance structure that you identified? Give reasons for your answer. Explain in detail any health-policy issue related to health insurance.

Describe the purpose of ESHI. Include the following in your description:

Costs and trends of ESHI in your state.

Any correlation that may exist between the trends in ESHI and the plight of the uninsured in your state.

Any influence of the Affordable Care Act upon the numbers of uninsured or underinsured in your state.

Discuss potential benefits and risks to both the employer and the employee.