This report examines recent trends in employer-sponsored insurance at the national and state level, and it expands and updates our previous analysis. The report uses state-level data from the Annual Social and Economic Supplement (ASEC) of the Current Population Survey (CPS) for the coverage component of the analysis and data from the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey - Insurance Component (MEPS-IC) for the employer and cost components of the analysis.

In this brief, SHARE grantee Mike O'Grady (NORC, University of Chicago) details the process of linking data sets, gives an overview of data linkage projects that have been undertaken to date, and considers the potential linkages that would be both relevant and useful in a post-reform environment.  Dr. O'Grady points to several key areas where linked data sets could be beneficial going forward, including the design and implementation of the ACA's health benefit exchanges, comprehension of the complex intersection of Medicare and Medicaid, and reform of the Medicare payment system.