Yes, we’re likely to hear a lot of grumbling. But overwhelming majority of U.S. employers say they’re very likely to or definitely will continue to provide health care plans for all full-time employees when the Affordable Care Act fully kicks in.
Eighty-four percent of companies participating in the Post Election Survey of to the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans said they’d continue to fund health care plans when mandated state exchanges start operating in 2014.
That number is seven points higher than it was in a similar study held immediately following the Supreme Court’s approval of the Affordable Care Act last June.
According to the IFEBP, the top reasons survey respondents plan to provide coverage in 2014 are:
- maintain/increase employee satisfaction and loyalty (40%)
- retain current employees (24%), or
- as part of a collective bargaining agreement (21%).
Aside from organizations’ health care focus shifting to complying with legislation (57%), most (52%) are shifting their attention to wellness, value-based health care (40%) and consumer-driven health care plans (26%).
For the most part, employers don’t plan to dramatically adjust their hiring plans for the next two years based on the ACA, the IFEBP said. What companies forecast:
- No plans to add or reduce workforce — 48%
- Will reduce workforce due to overall costs directly associated with the ACA — 11%
- Will reduce hiring to stay under 50-employee ACA threshold — 5%, and
- Will add staff to help keep their health care plan compliant with the ACA — 4%.
The IFEBP survey was administered December 3-4 to measure organizations’ reactions to November’s general election. Responses were received from 593 plan administrators, trustees and organizational representatives. Respondents represented a comprehensive range of organizations with respect to size, sector and region.
