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More employers plan to keep offering insurance under ACA
NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted April 22, 2013
Sixty-nine percent of employers in an International Foundation of Employee Benefits Plan survey said they are certain to continue providing employer-sponsored health coverage when health insurance exchanges come online in 2014. That’s up from the 46% who reported being certain in 2012.
About two-thirds of employers have estimated the costs of complying with the Affordable Care Act, said the survey (link). Among those employers, most estimate a cost increase of 3% to 4%.
Employers with 50 or fewer workers report the largest anticipated cost increase, while large employers are least likely to see significant cost hikes, according to survey results released in April.
About 50% of those surveyed said they are developing tactics to deal with the implications of reform. Smaller employers were more likely to make ACA-based decisions about hiring, firing and reallocating hours than larger employers, and they were more likely to drop coverage due to the ACA.
Since the first survey in 2010, employers said their top focus was complying with ACA regulations. That changed in 2013, when employers said their top focus was developing tactics to deal with the implications of the law.
