The choice of health insurance plans by university employees

This study presents the results of a survey of university employees to determine the factors that were important in the choice between two health insurance plans (CHIP vs traditional). The major differences between the plans were their coverage of hospital services, physician office visits, and routine dental services. Separate analyses were conducted for employees of departments associated with the health professions and employees of other departments. The majority of employees selected the CHIP plan, which included coverage of routine dental services. Employees who chose the traditional plan were more likely to have other medical or dental insurance coverage than those who chose CHIP. Multiple regression analyses and discriminant function analyses indicated that the ranking of the importance of coverage of routine dental services and physician office visits were the most important factors in the choice of health insurance plan. These findings indicate that employees may be willing to trade the coverage of other health benefits to secure coverage of routine dental services and physician office visits.