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In March 2012, across all private sector employers, 82 percent of workers who received medical care benefits were required to share in the cost of single coverage and 91 percent of workers were required to share in the cost of family coverage.
Contribution requirement | Single coverage | Family coverage | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
All | 1–49 workers | 500 workers or more | All | 1–49 workers | 500 workers or more | |
Total | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 |
No employee contribution | 18 | 25 | 13 | 9 | 12 | 10 |
Employee contribution required | 82 | 75 | 87 | 91 | 88 | 90 |
The smallest establishments (those employing 1–49 workers) were more likely to provide single coverage at no cost to the employee; 25 percent of workers at the smallest establishments received such coverage for free. Free coverage was less likely among the largest establishments (establishments with 500 or more workers); 13 percent of workers at these establishments received single coverage at no cost.
For family coverage, there was little difference in the proportion with no employee cost (12 percent, compared with 10 percent).
These data are from the National Compensation Survey program. To learn more, see “Employment-based health benefits in small and large private establishments” (HTML) (PDF), by William J. Wiatrowski, Beyond the Numbers, April 2013. Medical care benefits are defined as coverage including hospitalization, surgery, physician visits, and related services. An establishment is defined as a single physical location. In some cases, an establishment may be part of a larger enterprise.
Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, The Economics Daily, Employee contributions to medical care benefits costs at https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2013/ted_20130416.htm (visited December 09, 2024).