Employers End Stagnation on Health Care Decisions Post PPACA

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Techie graphFortunately for many employees in post-Obama reelection America, most employers seem to be removing the option to drop health coverage from the table. According to a survey by the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans, 84 percent of employers will continue to provide health care coverage  for full-time employees even after the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) is fully implemented in 2014. The primary reason for this decision is to maintain employee satisfaction and loyalty (40 percent). Other reasons reported by employers were to retain current employees (24 percent) and as part of collective bargaining (21 percent).

Over three-quarters of employers say that are doing very well in becoming compliant with PPACA regulations and 60 percent report being “very” or “extremely” far along in preparation for future provisions. Employers have also experienced a shift in health care focus to legislation (57 percent), wellness (52 percent), value-based health care (40 percent), and consumer-driven health plans (26 percent). Approximately 70 percent of employers currently offer wellness plans. Once health care exchanges go into effect in 2014, one-quarter of employers are likely to direct only some employees to them while continuing to provide coverage for others. Over 10 percent of employers stated that they plan to reduce their staffs due to the increased costs brought on by health care reform measures.

“One can assume that the 63 percent of organizations that will most likely provide a subsidy to those employees that were shifted to the exchanges are sensitive to promoting employee loyalty,” says Julie Stich, the International Foundation’s director of research.

 

By Joshua Bjerke