Employers are about as likely to offer group health coverage as they were last year or the year before that, but workers may be a little less likely to take the coverage.
Researchers at the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics published benefits access, participation rate and take-up rate data in a summary of results from the latest private industry employee benefits survey.
The percentage of private industry employees with access to employer-sponsored health insurance plateaued at 71%, while the "take-up rate," or percentage of private industry employees who actually chose to take up the coverage offered, slipped to 73%, from 74% in 2006 and from 75% in 2005, the BLS researchers report.
Because of a change in BLS methods, the 2007 life benefits penetration figures cannot be compared to life figures from earlier benefits surveys, but the BLS figures show that penetration rates for many other employee benefits have been flat or nearly flat for the past 3 years.
The access rate for long term care insurance, for example, has been 12% for 3 years in a row, and access rate for dental insurance has been 46% for 3 years in a row.
