Among employees under age 30, only half participated in their employer's health benefits program in 2013, compared to 70 percent of employees age 40 and older, according to ADP's inaugural Annual Health Benefits Report.
The report also found that health plan premiums have risen for employees of all ages, but the highest increase came for those under 30.
Dave Marini, vice president and managing director for Roseland, N.J.-based ADP Strategic Advisory Services, said the lower participation among younger workers might be linked to the rise in premiums as well as attitude.
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"They are young and most are healthy, so they don't really think they need insurance yet," Marini said.
The ADP report also showed that, not surprisingly, low-income workers were least equipped to handle the percentage increase in premiums.
Despite an overall drop in premiums in 2013, health costs represented on average roughly 8.4 percent of income for an employee earning between $15,000 and $20,000 vs. 2.1 percent for an employee earning more than $120,000.
Marini said the report, which reviewed four years of information on about 600,000 employees working in 175 U.S.-based organizations, showed an annual salary of $45,000 is the threshold at which most employees participate in health care plans.
The percentage of participants holds steady after $45,000 at about 82 percent even as salary doubles and nearly triples.
In what the report suggested could be a response to Obamacare, it found that employers are increasing their contribution for single coverage health plans and cutting their share for family coverage. In 2013, the largest employer contribution share was for single coverage, at 77 percent.
The findings also show that, in recent years, employers have been insuring a larger proportion of older workers and a smaller proportion of younger ones.
The PPACA has prompted many organizations to re-examine their benefits strategies as they move into 2014, when major provisions of the law go into effect.
With more than $10 billion in revenues, ADP is one of the world's largest providers of business outsourcing and human capital management solutions.
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