Employer-Reported Sector Analysis: Pennsylvania

March 6, 2025

In the state of Pennsylvania (PA), per the most recent Form 5500 filings, over 3.8 million participants [i] were reported by 3,600 employers as being enrolled in welfare plans where Health was a benefit. Manufacturing was the largest reported sector in the filings, representing 20% of all participants, or about 800,000 people. Health Care & Social Assistance was second, with 700,000 covered lives (18%). Finance & Insurance; Retail Trade; and Professional, Scientific, & Technical Services round out the top five sectors in the state.

• Within PA’s Manufacturing sector, one of the top employer/sponsors is the Steelworkers Health and Welfare Fund, through which nearly 60,000 people are enrolled in Health coverage with Pittsburgh-based Highmark. United States (US) Steel reported 55,000 participants, with the majority covered by CVS health plans. The remaining participants in the sector are divided amongst 814 other employers/sponsors across the state.
   
• With over 100,000 participants, UPMC is the largest employer/sponsor in PA’s Health Care & Social Assistance sector, followed by Universal Health Services (UHS) with over 64,000 enrollees and the University of Pennsylvania with nearly 47,000 enrollees. Independence Blue Cross (IBX) is a regional provider offering coverage to University of Pennsylvania enrollees, while national carriers such as CVS, Humana, and UnitedHealthcare support UHS.
   
• PNC Financial Services is one of the major players in PA’s Finance & Insurance sector with over 104,000 participants, covered by health plans from CVS, Highmark, IBX, and Kaiser. CVS and Kaiser also provide coverage to the Bank of New York Mellon Corporation (BNY), which reported 29,000 participants in their most recent filings.
   
• The top three reporting employers in PA’s Retail Trade sector are all based in the state, and account for almost 24% (76,000) of the sector’s enrollment: Rite Aid Corporation (Philadelphia), and convenience stores and gas station chains, Sheetz (Altoona) and Wawa (Wawa). There are 253 other businesses reporting health plans within this competitive sector.
   
• With nearly 274,000 participants, the Professional, Scientific, & Technical Services sector has 445 business entities reporting. Eurofins, SAP America, Day & Zimmermann, and Westinghouse Electric Company are some of the notable international employers in this sector and are supported by larger carriers, including Cigna, CVS, and UnitedHealthcare.

About this Data

Due to filing guidelines and companies with different fiscal year ends, this subset of Form 5500 data generally encompasses filings from 2023, with a smaller amount from 2021 and 2022, to reflect the most recent filings available. National and international employers based in Pennsylvania may also offer coverage through insurers not located in Pennsylvania.

[i] A single employee and/or their dependent(s) may be a participant in multiple health coverage products offered by an employer.

Note: MFA makes every effort to accurately aggregate filings properly but cannot guarantee 100% accuracy due to the lack of normalization within the filings. This also allows for potential duplicative data as employers may have multiple filings.

About 5500 Employer Health ^Plus

The data used in this analysis brief was obtained from Mark Farrah Associates' 5500 Employer Health ^Plus. This tool has been designed to simplify the analysis of employer health and welfare benefits including medical, dental, vision, disability, and other benefits. MFA’s 5500 Employer Health ^Plus uniquely focuses on health and ancillary benefits purchased by private sector employers and the relationships employers have with contracted insurers, administrators, and brokers. The user interface allows for both detailed and summary level data retrieval. Data sources include Form 5500 filings and related schedules for companies that indicate they provide health and welfare benefits.

About Mark Farrah Associates (MFA)

Mark Farrah Associates (MFA) is a leading data aggregator and publisher providing health plan market data and analysis tools for the healthcare industry. Our product portfolio includes Health Coverage Portal™, County Health Coverage™, 5500 Employer Health ^Plus, Medicare Business Online™, Medicare Benefits Analyzer™, and Health Plans USA™. For more information about these products, refer to the informational videos and brochures available under the Our Products section of the website or call 724-338-4100.

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