95 percent of managers and 39 percent of service workers offered medical benefits in March 2017

Sixty-seven percent of private industry workers had access to employer-provided medical care benefits in March 2017. Having access means employers offered the benefit, regardless of whether employees chose to participate. Forty-nine percent of private industry workers participated in an employer-provided medical care plan in March 2017. That results in a take-up rate—the percentage of workers with access to a plan who participate in the plan—of 72 percent.

Workers in management, business, and financial occupations had the highest access rate to medical care benefits (95 percent) and the highest participation rate (73 percent). Workers in service occupations had the lowest access rate (39 percent) and participation rate (23 percent).

The medical care take-up rate for all workers in private industry was 72 percent in March 2017. The take-up rate was 83 percent for workers in construction, extraction, farming, fishing, and forestry occupations. The take-up rate was 76 percent for workers in management, business, and financial occupations; installation, maintenance, and repair occupations; and production occupations. Workers in service occupations had the lowest take-up rate, 61 percent.

One reason workers may choose not to participate in the medical care benefits available from their employers is cost. On average, private industry employers paid 79 percent of the costs for medical plan premiums for single coverage and 67 percent for family coverage. For workers in management, business, and financial occupations, employers paid 79 percent of the premium costs for single coverage and 70 percent for family coverage. For workers in service occupations, employers paid 77 percent of the premium costs for single coverage and 62 percent for family coverage.

These data are from the National Compensation Survey — Benefits program. For more information, see “Employee Benefits in the United States — March 2017” (HTML) (PDF). For more information about terms related to employee benefits, see our glossary.