April 28, 2004 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

Employee contributions for medical insurance premiums

On average, employees in private industry paid 18 percent of the medical care premium for single coverage and 30 percent of the premium for family coverage.

[Chart data—TXT]

Union workers paid 12 percent of the medical premiums for single coverage, while their nonunion counterparts paid 19 percent. The share of premiums for family coverage also was higher for nonunion workers: 31 versus 19 percent.

The employee share of family coverage premiums was higher for workers in service-producing industries than for those in goods-producing industries. This share was also higher for workers in small establishments (those with fewer than 100 employees).

These data are from the BLS National Compensation Survey program. Learn more in "National Compensation Survey: Employee Benefits in Private Industry in the United States, March 2003" (PDF), Summary 04-02.