Sixty percent of establishments in private industry offered medical care benefits to their employees in March 2007, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported.

Employers paid 81 percent of the cost of premiums for single coverage and 71 percent of the cost for family coverage for workers participating in employer sponsored medical plans. These findings are from the Summary, "National Compensation Survey: Employee Benefits in the United States, March 2007".

These data are from the National Compensation Survey (NCS), which provides comprehensive measures of occupational earnings, compensation cost trends, and details of benefit provisions. In addition to health and retirement plans, the survey also covered paid leave, disability insurance, and other selected benefits.

The following are some of the major findings:

* Most employees covered by medical care plans were in plans requiring employee contributions for both single and family coverage. Employee contributions for medical care premiums averaged $81.37 per month for single coverage, and $312.78 per month for family coverage.

* Seventy-one percent of workers had access to medical care benefits, and 52 percent participated in a medical care plan. Access and participation to health care, and to other benefits, varied by employee and employer characteristics.

* Sixty-one percent of workers had access to retirement benefits, with 51 percent participating in at least one type of retirement plan. Twenty percent of employees participated in defined benefit retirement plans, and 43 percent in defined contribution plans. (Some employees participate in both types.)