69 percent of private industry workers had access to medical care benefits in March 2018

In March 2018, 69 percent of private industry workers had access to employer-sponsored medical benefits. Access to such benefits varied considerably by establishment size, with employees of larger establishments generally having higher rates of access than those of smaller establishments.

Among private industry workers, 55 percent of those who worked at small establishments (fewer than 100 employees) had access to employer-sponsored medical care benefits, while 88 percent of workers at large establishments (500 or more employees) had such access. In medium-size establishments (100 to 499 employees), 83 percent of workers had access to medical care benefits.

In goods-producing industries, 85 percent of private industry workers had access to employer-sponsored medical care benefits, compared with 66 percent of workers in service-providing industries. In addition, full-time workers were much more likely (86 percent) to be offered medical care benefits than part-time workers (21 percent). Finally, union workers in private industry were more likely (94 percent) to be offered medical care benefits from their employers than were nonunion workers (66 percent).

These data are from the National Compensation Survey — Benefits program. For more information, see “Employee Benefits in the United States — March 2018.” For more information about terms related to employee benefits, see our glossary.