This issue brief examines how insurance reforms required by the Affordable Care Act will affect employment-based health plans in California. The authors use simulated bill paying to estimate the percentage of the bill paid by the health plan and via households’ out-of-pocket expenses. The findings indicate that most insurance reforms will not have major effects on current plans offered by California employers, except for a prohibition on lifetime maximum benefits and a limit on out-of-pocket expenses. The average actuarial value for an employment-based plan in California is 0.87 compared to 0.83 for the nation, and average out-of-pocket medical expenses for households with employment-based insurance are $1,298.
