ERISA long-term disability statistics (2026)
Two federal questions this page answers with primary-source data, using each source's own wording: how many workers actually have employer-sponsored long-term disability (LTD) coverage, and what the Department of Labor's ERISA enforcement arm, EBSA, recovers for plan participants each year. No claim-denial-rate or claim-approval-rate figure appears anywhere on this page: this site has not found a federal source that publishes one, and does not estimate one.
Every figure below was fetched live on 12 October 2026 from the primary source cited next to it.
1. Who has employer-sponsored LTD coverage
Before anything else on this site about appeal deadlines or the administrative record matters, a reader needs to know whether they had this coverage at all. Our self-assessment checks whether a specific plan is ERISA-governed; the figures below show how common the underlying benefit is in the first place, nationally, using the current release. See group plan vs. individual policy: appeal rights for what that ERISA-governed answer actually changes about your appeal deadline, exhaustion rule, and standard of review.
| Group | Access rate |
|---|---|
| Private industry workers | 37% |
| State and local government workers | 41% |
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, National Compensation Survey, "Employee Benefits in the United States, March 2026" (USDL-26-1534), released 25 September 2026, confirmed live 12 October 2026. Access means the plan was offered to the worker, not that the worker enrolled.
The access gap by union status, and by industry
BLS's full March 2026 data file, the published workbook that accompanies this release, breaks the private-industry access rate down further than the news release's own prose does. Among private industry workers in March 2026: union workers had a 48% access rate versus 36% for nonunion workers, a 12-point gap. By industry, workers in the information industry had an 81% access rate, versus 8% for workers in the leisure and hospitality industry. These two industries are named because they are the same two BLS has highlighted in this series before; this page does not claim they are the highest and lowest access rates among every industry BLS publishes, only that they are these two industries' current rates.
Where this union/nonunion and industry detail comes from
BLS's March 2026 news release (cited above) states the combined private industry figure (37%) and the combined state and local government figure (41%) in its own prose. The union/nonunion split and the industry breakdown above come from a separate document released alongside it: BLS's full "all data" workbook for this release.
2. What DOL's EBSA recovers for plan participants
Separately from the coverage question above, the Department of Labor's Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) is the federal office that enforces ERISA, the law behind the 180-day appeal deadline described throughout this site. According to its FY2025 fact sheet on dol.gov, EBSA recovered $1.4 billion in direct payment to plans, participants, and beneficiaries in FY 2025. The table below uses only labels that appear verbatim in that fact sheet, and names which part of the fact sheet each one comes from, because the fact sheet itself uses different exact wording for the same dollar figure in different sections.
| Category (EBSA's own label, verbatim) | Amount | Where the fact sheet states it |
|---|---|---|
| Total recovered from investigations | $714.4 million | "By the Numbers: Fast Facts" table, "Civil Investigation Recoveries" |
| Terminated vested participant benefit payments | $512.5 million | same table, same section |
| All other investigations | $201.9 million | same table, same section |
| Total recovered from public inquiries | $468.7 million | "By the Numbers: Fast Facts" table, "Informal Complaint Resolutions" |
| Distributed to Participants Through Abandoned Plan Program | $117.3 million | "By the Numbers: In Detail" section heading |
| From the Voluntary Fiduciary Correction Program | $39.1 million | "By the Numbers" summary, top of page (capitalized here only) |
| Total NSA recoveries | $67 million | "By the Numbers: Fast Facts" table, "No Surprises Act Results" |
Source: U.S. Department of Labor, EBSA, "EBSA Restores $1.4 Billion to Employee Benefit Plans, Participants, and Beneficiaries" (FY2025 fact sheet), confirmed live 12 October 2026. EBSA's own scope statement: it oversees "approximately 2.8 million health plans, 837,000 private pension plans, and 521,000 other welfare benefit plans," covering 155 million workers, retirees, and dependents nationally. These figures cover ALL ERISA plan types EBSA regulates, not disability plans specifically. "Terminated vested participant benefit payments" is defined-benefit pension money; "All other investigations" is the source's own label for everything else the investigations total recovered.
Any worker with an ERISA-governed plan can contact an EBSA Benefits Advisor at 1-866-444-EBSA (3272) or online at askebsa.dol.gov. In FY 2025, EBSA's Benefits Advisors closed 222,246 inquiries. This is a separate track from your plan's own internal appeal process: no source cited on this page says contacting EBSA pauses, extends, or substitutes for your 180-day appeal deadline or the exhaustion requirement described elsewhere on this site. Treat it as something you can do in addition to filing your appeal on time, never instead of it.
A real case from EBSA's own FY2025 fact sheet, headed "Large Retailer Updates Long-Term Disability Policies" (anonymized by DOL, not independently investigated by this site), quoted exactly as published: "A participant's health insurance was canceled when she went on long-term disability from her retail job. EBSA helped her get a COBRA notice and navigate that issue. But less than a year later, she called again. She had $100,000 in hospital bills and was getting mixed answers about her coverage. EBSA contacted the employer, which realized their benefits booklet did not clearly explain how participants could keep coverage during long-term disability. They updated it, protecting benefits for over 1.6 million people."
Frequently asked questions
What percentage of workers have access to long-term disability insurance through their job?
As of March 2026, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports 37 percent of private industry workers and 41 percent of state and local government workers had access to an employer-sponsored long-term disability plan. This is an access rate, meaning the plan was offered, not a participation or take-up rate for workers who enrolled.
Is long-term disability access the same for union and nonunion workers?
No. BLS's March 2026 data file reports 48 percent of private industry union workers had access to a long-term disability plan, versus 36 percent of private industry nonunion workers. This specific split is published in BLS's full data file for this release; the news release text itself states the combined national figure (37 percent for private industry overall).
How much money did the Department of Labor recover for employee benefit plan participants in fiscal year 2025?
DOL's Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) reports it recovered $1.4 billion in direct payment to plans, participants, and beneficiaries in FY 2025, across enforcement actions, informal complaint resolution, the Abandoned Plan Program, the Voluntary Fiduciary Correction Program, and No Surprises Act inquiries.
Can I contact the Department of Labor if my ERISA long-term disability claim was denied?
Yes. Workers can contact an EBSA Benefits Advisor at 1-866-444-EBSA (3272) or online at askebsa.dol.gov about a problem with an employee benefit plan. In FY 2025, EBSA's Benefits Advisors closed 222,246 inquiries. This is a separate federal complaint channel; no source read for this page says contacting it pauses, extends, or substitutes for your plan's own internal appeal deadline.
Sources
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Employee Benefits in the United States, March 2026 (USDL-26-1534), news release. bls.gov. Confirmed live 12 October 2026.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Employee Benefits in the United States, March 2026, full data publication (summary and all-data workbooks). bls.gov. Confirmed live 12 October 2026.
- U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration. EBSA Restores $1.4 Billion to Employee Benefit Plans, Participants, and Beneficiaries (FY2025 fact sheet). dol.gov. Confirmed live 12 October 2026.
This is a data reference page, not legal advice.
Cite or share this data
This compilation is openly licensed under CC BY 4.0. The underlying figures remain the property of their original sources (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor).
Suggested citation:
Long Term Disability Appeal. "ERISA Long-Term Disability Statistics (2026)." October 2026. longtermdisabilityappeal.com/erisa-ltd-statistics/ Data errors or updates can be reported via our contact form.