Lower-wage workers less likely than other workers to have medical care benefits in 2019

Twenty-four percent of private industry workers in the lowest 10 percent wage category had access to employer-sponsored medical plans in March 2019, while 94 percent of workers with an average wage in the highest 10 percent had access to such plans. As average wages move from the lowest 25 percent of wage earners to the second-lowest 25 percent, access rates rose from 36 percent to 70 percent.

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Chart Data Private industry access to medical care benefits and participation rate by wage category, March 2019 Wage category Access Participation Lowest 10 percent 24% 13% Lowest 25 percent 36 21 Second 25 percent 70 48 Third 25 percent 86 65 Highest 25 percent 91 70 Highest 10 percent 94 72

Participation rates, or the percentage of all workers who participate in a plan, also increase as wages go up. Among workers with an average wage in the lowest 10 percent wage category, only 13 percent participated in employer-sponsored medical plans in March 2019. Meanwhile, 72 percent of workers with an average wage in the highest 10 percent participated in these plans.

These data are from the National Compensation Survey — Benefits program. For more information about employee benefits, see “Employee Benefits in the United States, March 2019” and our glossary of employee benefit terms.