Social Insurance and Public Assistance

824 Series Bf802–813 Bf SOCIAL INSURANCE AND PUBLIC ASSISTANCE
TABLE Bf802–813 Employee-benefit plans – estimated number of workers covered, by type of benefit: 1950–1975
Contributed by Price V. Fishback and Melissa A. Thomasson
All wage and salary workers
With hospitalization
coverage
Wage and salary workers in private industry
With coverage
for temporary
disability including
formal sick leave
Written in
With accidental compliance With With major In compliance With With
With life death and with California With regular medical with state coverage for supplemental With
insurance and dismemberment temporary surgical medical expenses temporary long-term unemployment retirement
death benefits coverage Total disability law coverage coverage coverage Total disability laws disability coverage coverage
Bf802 Bf803 Bf804 Bf805 Bf806 Bf807 Bf808 Bf809 Bf810 Bf811 Bf812 Bf813
Year Million Million Million Million Million Million Million Million Million Million Million Million
1950 19.4 8.1 24.3 1.2 17.7 8.2 — 20.1 6.6 — — 9.8
1951 20.8 9.5 27.1 1.4 21.7 10.7 — 21.7 6.8 — — 10.8
1952 22.3 10.7 28.8 1.5 24.2 12.7 0.2 22.4 7.0 — — 11.3
1953 24.2 11.8 31.0 1.5 26.9 15.8 0.5 23.4 7.0 — — 12.6
1954 25.7 14.0 31.1 1.4 27.8 17.5 0.8 22.9 6.7 — — 13.4
1955 28.1 15.6 32.8 1.4 30.2 20.2 2.2 23.5 6.8 — 1.0 14.2
1956 29.8 17.3 35.1 1.5 32.4 22.0 3.5 24.7 7.1 — 2.0 15.5
1957 31.2 18.4 36.4 1.6 34.2 23.9 4.9 24.9 7.2 — 1.9 16.7
1958 31.7 18.7 36.2 1.4 34.1 24.5 5.9 23.8 6.8 — 1.7 17.2
1959 33.5 19.7 37.2 1.5 35.4 26.1 7.2 24.4 6.9 — 1.9 18.2
1960 34.2 20.9 39.3 1.2 37.4 28.2 8.8 24.5 6.8 — 1.7 18.7
1961 35.5 21.3 39.9 1.1 38.0 29.8 10.3 24.6 6.8 — 1.9 19.2
1962 36.4 22.6 41.0 0.9 39.0 31.3 11.7 25.3 6.8 — 1.8 19.7
1963 37.8 24.7 42.6 0.3 40.8 33.3 13.2 23.6 6.2 0.7 1.8 20.3
1964 40.1 26.5 43.9 0.3 41.8 35.4 14.7 23.9 6.2 1.2 2.0 20.9
1965 41.9 28.4 45.7 0.3 43.4 38.2 16.6 24.5 6.4 1.9 2.1 21.8
1966 43.5 28.5 47.2 0.4 45.2 40.2 18.3 25.5 6.6 2.3 2.2 22.7
1967 45.7 30.4 48.7 0.4 47.0 42.5 20.2 26.0 6.7 3.7 2.2 24.3
1968 48.2 33.7 50.1 0.4 48.3 43.6 21.7 27.9 6.7 4.6 2.2 24.8
1969 49.0 36.5 52.1 0.4 50.6 46.1 23.4 29.4 6.9 5.5 2.2 26.0
1970 52.0 38.7 53.1 0.4 51.5 48.0 24.6 29.7 7.1 7.0 2.2 26.1
1971 53.5 39.2 53.2 0.4 51.7 48.3 25.7 30.1 6.9 7.9 2.2 26.4
1972 55.6 40.7 54.2 0.4 52.9 49.4 26.4 31.3 7.1 9.5 2.0 27.5
1973 57.8 42.7 56.8 0.4 55.4 53.7 27.6 32.0 7.2 10.6 2.1 29.2
1974 60.6 44.3 57.6 0.4 56.1 54.9 28.2 31.7 7.0 11.1 2.0 29.8
1975 62.4 46.5 58.2 0.4 56.6 56.1 29.6 31.1 7.0 11.5 1.9 30.3
Sources
Martha Remy Yohalem, “Employee-Benefit Plans, 1975,” Social Security Bulletin
38 (11) (1977): 20, and Alfred M. Skolnik, “Twenty-five Years of Employee-
Benefit Plans,” Social Security Bulletin 39 (9) (1976): 5.
Documentation
An “employee-benefit plan,” as defined here, is any type of plan sponsored
or initiated unilaterally or jointly by employers or employees and providing
benefits that stem from the employment relationship and are not underwritten
orpaid directly by government (federal, state, or local). In general, the
intent is to include plans that provide in an orderly predetermined fashion
(1) income maintenance when regular earnings are cut off because of death,
accident, sickness, retirement, or unemployment, and (2) benefits to meet
medical expenses associated with illness or injury. The plans exclude workers’
compensation required by statute and employer’s liability.
Government employees who are covered by plans underwritten by nongovernmental
organizations are included in the series, whether or not the
government unit contributes (as an employer) to the financing of the program.
Specifically included here are plans providing government employees
with group life insurance, accidental death and dismemberment insurance,
and hospital, surgical, regular medical, and major-medical expense insurance.
Retirement and sick-leave plans for government employees, which are
financed and administered directly by government, are excluded from the
series.
Coverage data are generally based on the number of active participants
(those currently employed) and may include persons who have been temporarily
laid off or retired. The practice of continuing coverage for a retired
worker is particularly prevalent in group life insurance. Many group life and
health plans permit a person on layoff to continue coverage in the group for
three to six months, and, in some cases, even longer. In addition, workers who
have terminated employment may carry vested pension rights; these persons
are often included in the total coverage group. No attempt has been made to
correct the coverage data for such limitations; therefore, the proportion that
covered employees represent of all employed workers and the proportion
that contributions represent of aggregate payrolls are somewhat overstated.
Nevertheless, long-run growth patterns for the various types of plans remain
valid.
Series Bf802. Group and wholesale life insurance coverage is based on data
from the Institute of Life Insurance, Group Life Insurance and Group Annuity Coverage
in the United States, annual issues, modified to exclude group plans not
related to employment. It also excludes coverage under servicemen’s group
life insurance plans. Self-insured death-benefit plan coverage is based on
data for various trade-union, mutual benefits association, and companyadministered
plans.
Series Bf803. Accidental death and dismemberment coverage is from Health
Insurance Association of America, Group Health Insurance Coverage in the United
States, annual issues.
Series Bf804 and Bf806–807. Data on hospitalization, surgical, and regular
medical coverage are from Marjorie Smith Mueller and Paula A. Piro, “Private
Health Insurance in 1974: A Review of Coverage, Enrollment, and Financial
Experience,” Social Security Bulletin 39 (3) (1976): 3–20.; Health Insurance
Association of America, Group Health Insurance Coverage in the United States,