HR Morning

Reform law to stay or go? What employers, individuals say

Christian Schappel
by Christian Schappel
2 minute read

Two recent surveys have revealed where employers and the voting public stand on the healthcare reform law.
It won’t be long now before we know the fate of the law, as the Supreme Court is expected to rule by the end of the month whether part or all of it should be struck down.
But what we do know, thanks to a survey by The New York Times and CBS News, is where a chunk of the voting public stands on the law:

  • 41% want the entire law overturned
  • 27% want the individual mandate requiring Americans to obtain health insurance to be struck down
  • 24% want the entire law kept intact, and
  • 8% had no response.

Takeaway: More than two-thirds (68%) want at least part of the law overturned.
What employers think
In addition, the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans (IFEBP) asked employers whether they thought the law would be overturned.
Their responses:

  • 66% think the individual mandate will be struck down but other pieces of reform will be kept intact
  • 19% think the entire law will remain intact, and
  • 15% think just the individual mandate will be struck down.

The IFEBP also asked employers and worker representatives which provisions they’d like to see reinstated should the entire reform law be thrown out.
Employers’ top three:

  1. The ability to offer more wellness incentives (33%)
  2. The mandate that insurers cannot turn away individuals with pre-existing conditions (23%), and
  3. The requirement to cover dependent children up to age 26 (22%).

Workers’ top three:

  1. The requirement to cover dependent children up to age 26 (59%)
  2. The mandate that insurers cannot turn away individuals with pre-existing conditions (34%), and
  3. The rule that eliminates participants’ cost-sharing for preventive services (32%).

Takeaway: Both employers and workers strongly favor the enactment of provisions that require insurers to cover dependent children and stop turning away those with pre-existing conditions.
Info: The New York Times and CBS News survey received 976 responses from adults, and the IFEBP survey received 1,027 responses from plan administrators, trustees and organizational representatives from private businesses, multi-employer trust funds and public employers.