Employer-sponsored health insurance faces criticism as costs shift to workers and portable plan proposals spread across states

Bloomberg's decision to wind down its employer health benefit by 2027 has drawn attention to a broader trend: employers in increasing numbers are narrowing benefits and shifting costs to workers, even as employees gain no ownership stake in the policies they help fund. The U.S. tax code currently allows employers to direct nearly $1 trillion of employee compensation toward health benefits annually, an arrangement one author writing in the Washington Examiner described as a product of historical accident rather than deliberate market design.

The Washington Examiner op-ed, written by Alexandra Stinson, a healthcare reporter and former Reason Institute intern, argued that the current employer-sponsored system penalizes worker mobility — particularly for younger workers. The piece cited Gallup data showing 24% of workers stay in unwanted jobs to preserve coverage, and noted that one in three Gen Z workers plan to change jobs within the next year. Workers who do not participate in employer-sponsored plans collectively face billions in additional taxes, the piece stated.

The article centered its proposed remedy on portable health insurance plans — arrangements in which the policy belongs to the employee rather than the employer, allowing coverage to travel between jobs. The author described portable plans as similar to individual coverage health reimbursement arrangements, but with the key distinction that the employee retains ownership. Pilot programs have emerged in several states, and Republican senators sent a letter to the Labor Department in spring 2025 urging removal of regulatory barriers to portable benefits.