Employee access to disability insurance plans

Short- and long-term disability insurance plans replace some of the pay workers lose when they cannot work because of an injury or illness that is not related to their job. From 2008 to 2018, there was a slight increase in employer-provided access to these insurance plans.

In 2018, 42 percent of private industry workers had access to short-term disability insurance plans and 34 percent to long-term plans. Twenty-six percent of state and local government workers had access to short-term coverage and 38 percent to long-term benefits.

When employers offer disability insurance, they pay the full cost of coverage for most workers. Private industry employers in 2018 paid the full cost for 85 percent of workers with short-term disability coverage and 94 percent of workers with long-term disability coverage. State and local government employers paid the full cost for 87 percent of workers with short-term disability coverage and 83 percent of workers with long-term disability coverage.

These data are from the National Compensation Survey – Benefits program. For more information, see “Employee Benefits in the United States – March 2018” and our glossary of terms on employee benefits. Plans that are completely funded by workers are not considered an employer-provided benefit and are not included in these data.