Health & Retirement Plan Coverage Studied

New Jersey sky at sunset

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), part of the U.S. Department of Labor, has released data showing the prevalence of coverage under both health plans and retirement plans for employees in the private sector. In the past, the BLS has tended to look at each type of coverage individually. Depending upon how demographic groups are broken down, there are some interesting differences in coverage. For purposes of the BLS analysis, the figures look at retirement and health plans made available by employers, not whether the employees actually chose to be covered under them. Here are some highlights:

• 70% of all workers are covered by a health plan, 65% by a retirement plan, and 58% by both.
• 76% of management employees are covered by both, versus 30% of service employees.
• Higher-paid workers are covered by both to a significantly greater extent than lower-paid workers.
• 71% of full-time workers are covered by both, as compared to 20% of part-time workers.
• 91% of union workers receive both health and retirement plan coverage.
• Large employers tend to offer both plans to a significantly greater degree than do small businesses.

One of the recurring themes of these blogs is that retirement savings does not occur in a vacuum. Recognizing the importance of health coverage for retirees in the context of future needs as well as more current financial challenges is critical to trying to find solutions to fill gaps in retirement savings.

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