The offices of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, in Washington. Credit: Neal/Adobe Stock
U.S. employers are just as likely to offer full-time employees health benefits this year as in 2024, and the full-time workers are just as likely to take up the health benefits offered.
About 89% of full-time civilian employees have access to health benefits, and 59% use the benefits, according to benefits survey data posted today by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
But the percentage of employers offering part-time employees health benefits continues to drop, and the percentage of part-time workers using the health benefits is shrinking.
For part-time workers, the health benefits access rate fell to 25% this year, from 26% in 2024, and the take-up rate fell to 44%, from 46%. The result was that the percentage of part-time workers with health benefits drifted down to 11%, from 12%.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics is part of the U.S. Labor Department.
What it means: Lack of Affordable Care Act coverage mandates for part-time workers and workers' access to individual and family coverage from the ACA public exchange system may be making the small market for health benefits for part-time workers even smaller.
Changes since 2019: The new Bureau of Labor Statistics survey results also show a big, long-term split between employers' willingness to offer health benefits and workers' interest in using the benefits.
Since 2019 — the year before the COVID-19 pandemic came to light — the percentage of all workers offered employer-sponsored health benefits has increased to 74%, from 71%.
The health benefits access rate has increased to 89%, from 87%, for full-time workers, and to 25%, from 22%, for part-time workers.
But the actual take-up rate fell to 65%, from 73%, for all workers; to 67%, from 74%, for full-time workers; and to just 44%, from 56%, for part-time workers.
Because of falling take-up rates, the percentage of workers actually signed up for employer coverage dropped to 48%, from 52%.
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