mkrei:
I think this is the question everyone comes to when they first do steel pile/concrete pile caps. I know I took a lot of convincing to accept that the bearing on the end of the H-piles works.
Many years ago, a mentor had me read a few articles that summed up research on this. The conclusion of the research was that the concrete in direct bearing with the steel pile is confined by the surrounding concrete to such a degree, that it can take very, very high bearing values. Unfourtunately, I did not make copies of those articles, and no longer have access to them.
CRSI Design handbook recommends that with a 6" pile embedment, cover plates for bearing are not required. See Chapter 13 of CRSI Handbook. (Page 13-15 specifically in the 1996 edition).