Amid a ‘thriving' moment, MLB makes healthcare plan more expensive to employees
Major League Baseball's central office has made its healthcare plans more costly to its employees, plan participants who were not authorized to speak publicly told The Athletic.
Previously, enrolled MLB employees at the commissioner's office and MLB Advanced Media — the digital arm of the company, which includes MLB.com — did not have to pay monthly premiums for coverage, but were responsible for co-pays. To keep that same level of benefits going forward, employees will have to contribute some of their paychecks, which newly makes MLB's model similar to most other workplaces in the U.S.
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'Our medical benefits are extremely generous and highly competitive compared to other companies,' said Regan White, MLB's senior vice president of human resources, in a statement. 'Our employees have best-in-class medical coverage with very low out-of-pocket costs and MLB will continue to pay the full monthly premium for dental and vision coverage for employees. We are proud of the full and varied employee benefit package that we offer to our employees.'
Speaking to reporters at last month's All-Star Game, league commissioner Rob Manfred said, 'When I look at the game right now — the game, the business — our sport is really thriving.'
MLB's owners this century have pushed for the sport to be operated with the same efficiency principles as outside businesses. Baseball, however, has always occupied a special space in the business world, with unique federal antitrust protection. MLB stadiums are also regularly subsidized by taxpayers, as is the case for venues in other sports leagues.
Employers expected healthcare costs to rise by 9 percent in 2025, per a New York Times report in November, citing the nonprofit research group KFF.
'Thirty-seven percent of covered workers at small firms are enrolled in a plan where the employer pays the entire premium for single coverage,' KFF wrote in a survey it published last year. 'This is the case for only 5 percent of covered workers at large firms. In contrast, 26 percent of covered workers at small firms are in a plan where they must contribute more than half of the premium for family coverage, compared to 6 percent of covered workers at large firms.'
A survey conducted by West Health and Gallup at the end of 2024 showed that 11 percent of adults in the U.S. could not afford healthcare.
(Photo of Manfred: Julio Aguilar / Getty Images)
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