Recent Data on Health Benefits from the National Compensation Survey
The National Compensation Survey (NCS) provides comprehensive information on health benefit plans. Under the NCS program, information on the incidence and provision of benefits is published in stages. A bulletin is published with a March reference data each year with data collected from respondents for civilian (as defined by NCS), State and local government, and private industry workers, on the access to, and participation in, selected benefits such as healthcare plans, as well as employer and employee shares of contributions to medical care premiums and their average amounts. A second publication, based on employer documentation of benefit plans, is published annually with more detailed information on basic provisions of health plans. Also, additional provisions of health benefit plans are published on a rotating basis.
Employer costs for employee compensation are published quarterly. Included are costs of health insurance for different occupational and industry groups, worker characteristics, and geographic areas. In addition, the Employment Cost Index publishes 12-month percent changes in employer costs for health benefits in private industry.
Employee Benefits
Employer Cost Trends
Published Articles
- “Who has benefits in private industry in 2012?" Beyond the Numbers: Pay and Benefits, September 2012, Vol. 1, No. 13, (focuses on access to and participation in retirement and other benefits by various worker and establishment characteristics).
- “How Have Health Benefits Changed in State and Local Government from 1998 to 2011?" Beyond the Numbers: Pay and Benefits, June 2012, Vol. 1, No. 5, (changes in health care plan provisions from 1998 to 2011).
- “Program Perspectives on Legally Required Benefit Costs" Program Perspective, January 2012, (focuses on medical care benefit costs).
- “Program Perspectives on Outpatient Prescription Drug Coverage” Program Perspectives, August 2011 (data on access and participation rates plus coverage trends for private industry workers).
- “Program Perspectives on High Deductible Health Plans” Program Perspectives, April 2011 (data on participation and comparisons with traditional plans and features of health savings accounts).
- “Program Perspectives on State and Local Government Benefits” Program Perspectives, January 2011, (includes data on access to health benefits).
- “Consumer-Driven Health Care: What Is It, and What Does It Mean for Employees and Employers?” Compensation and Working Conditions Online, October 2010.
- “Program Perspectives on Fee-For-Service Plans” Program Perspectives, October 2010, at http://www.bls.gov/opub/perspectives/program_perspectives_vol2_issue5.pdf.
- “Program Perspectives on Combined Benefit Plans” Program Perspectives, July 2010, (new data series on employee access to medical care and retirement benefits).
Last Modified Date: September 24, 2012
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