Will your employer abandon health coverage under new law?

pioneer press ^ | 7-15-12 | Christopher Snowbeck

[TurboZamboni]

Under the law, employers with more than 50 workers will need to either offer coverage or pay a penalty -- a decision routinely described as "pay or play."

Peyton is philosophically drawn to sticking with her "play" decision. But she wonders whether the "pay" option could make more sense for her business and her employees.

Some workers might find better coverage through state health exchanges, which are being created by the health law and will offer subsidies to many health insurance shoppers. At the same time, the law brings changes to group policies that could make employer-sponsored plans more expensive to maintain.

"I kind of feel it's morally right to offer it," Peyton said. "But if there's a savings in paying the penalty and greater flexibility for my employees, I'll probably go that way."

[TurboZamboni]

Barack Obama, June 23, 2009 :

"Let me be clear, When I say if you have your plan and you like it, or you have a doctor and you like your doctor, that you don’t have to change plans, what I’m saying is the government is not going to make you change plans under health reform."

HEADLINES 6 months later:

1) http://www.bizjournals.com/twincities/stories/2010/10/04/daily3.html

3M Co. will drop retirees from health plans, steer to Medicare

2) http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/blogs/beltway-confidential/mcdonalds-obamacare-regulations-will-cause-30000-employees-to-lose-insurance-104070558.html

McDonald’s: Obamacare regulations will cause 30,000 employees to lose insurance

3) http://news.bostonherald.com/news/opinion/editorials/view.bg?articleid=1285332&srvc=home&position=emailed

ObamaCare Victims:

Harvard Pilgrim was forced (by Medicare’s administration) to notify its customers that their plans would be canceled as of the end of this year. The company will offer another supplemental plan offering fewer benefits at a higher premium

4) http://www.nydailynews.com/opinions/2010/06/17/2010-06-17_a_bad_omen_on_obamacare_fears_about_health_reforms_costs_are_coming_true.html#ixzz11V8GOKvg

A bad omen on Obamacare: Fears about health reform’s costs are coming true

... several major corporations reported it would take a bite out of their future earnings. This group included AT&T, Caterpillar, John Deere, Verizon and several other large employers.

5) http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/sep/30/obamacares-health-hazard/

Two major Minnesota insurers announced this week that they would stop selling individual policies because of Obamacare’s uncertainties. Instead, they are routing policyholders into more expensive plans. Meanwhile, Anthem BlueCross and BlueShield, Aetna, Cigna, CoventryOne, Humana and UnitedHealthCare have stopped offering many child-only policies because Obamacare would force them to enroll children with pre-existing conditions, creating incentives for parents to wait until children get sick before buying coverage and hitting insurance companies with the bills.

[Leo Carpathian]

Kenyans hope and change:
first destroy businesses with over 50 employees, later hit the rest

[Tulane]

Yes, we will, next question.

[autumnraine]

These companies could go the route of McDonalds and offer to hire 50,000 employees at minimum wage at about five to ten hours a week and be exempt from the LAW.

[DeaconRed]

Bend Over.
Grab your ankles.
HIC.
HIC= Here It Comes. . . . without grease. . . . .

[massgopguy]

Just checked our phone list. 47 employees as of today. Hiring one new tech next week.

[E. Pluribus Unum]

If you create jobs for other people, you deserve to be punished because you are rich.

[Mr. K]

What if a state “opts-out” of creating an exchange, but a company in that state decides they want to be in the exchange?

REPEAL THIS WHOLE DAMN MESS!!!!!

[ThunderSleeps]

Some workers might find better coverage through state health exchanges, which are being created by the health law and will offer subsidies to many health insurance shoppers. At the same time, the law brings changes to group policies that could make employer-sponsored plans more expensive to maintain.

So everyone, from hussein down through his MSM lackeys, have abandoned all pretense that this government takeover of health insurance isn't going to cost us all money. We are all going to pay more for our health plans - if we can even keep them. We are all going to pay more taxes to subsidize those that go under government control. Oh, I mean those of us that actually do pay taxes.

The bottom line, we are all, all actual taxpayers going to pay more, a lot more.

The subtext below the bottom line - we're going to be paying more, for less. You can't add 20 million people - who will presumably use more health services since they are covered - without impacting availability. You could add more healthcare providers, but obamacare doesn't do that - it adds 16,000 new IRS agents instead.

[Wurlitzer]

To be honest and factual, the original reason for employers to offer health care no longer exists. It was a dodge around wage controls now thanks to half the country believing in communism that dodge is a right.

Employees offer a skill, service to an employer and the employer in return agrees to pay on an hourly or weekly basis.

Employers have no business paying for Health Care, Food, Car, housing, condoms, abortions, dental work, cosmetic surgery, legal fees, wall to wall carpet, heating bills, cable tv, ad infinitum.

If we want health care costs to go down then we MUST stop subsidizing them via Insurance or Government Robin Hood theft and giveaways.

If we must have insurance then let it be catastrophic insurance based upon a percentage yearly gross income AND MOST IMPORTANTLY, only for legal US Citizens.

[Abathar]

What you are going to see is creative ways around this. I own a small business, and if I get larger than 50 employees then my wife will rent out space in our office and shop and start her own business as a temp employee agency or something.

This is going to hurt a lot of small businesses, and if they are just under the 50 number you can kiss hiring more employees goodbye.

1099’s, here we come...

[trailhkr1]

I work for a very large co with lot’s of competition attracting good employees among the co’s. They will never get rid of employee benefits/perks.

[mazda77]

Bottom lines are funny things.

[ltc8k6]

Yeah, if you have about 100 employees, you just split up into 2 companies on paper.

[dfwgator]

Companies should drop health insurance coverage.

It actually might help solve the problems with outsourcing and age discrimination. You don’t have to worry about covering employees based in India, so it makes sense to offshore...now with that burden lifted, offshoring isn’t quite so attractive.

[dragnet2]

Will your employer abandon health coverage under new law?

You mean there are still people out there with employer heath coverage?

I give them a few more months and they too will get dumped.

Bet the rent.

[ncfool]

As a big bad business owner I will have to pay the penalty and put the good hard working American’s on “THE CHOOSEN ONE’S PLAN” Why? I have to go with the collective view of our LEADER. Last night another big bad business owner I know told me he was going to do the same thing with his 200 employees as he said it would drop about 1,500,000 more to his companies bottomline. He is a LLC so “THE CHOOSEN ONE” will get more tax money from him too.

Living in the new aMeriKa.

[Myrddin]

November is the usual month when health care coverage information is disseminated and employees make elections for coverage for the coming year. The current policy typically expires Dec 31st. My wife's employer (a city government) dumped coverage for everyone last March. They didn't have enough money to cover the next round of premium for the 2nd quarter. After a lapse of a few weeks, a less palatable package was offered. It included a health care savings plan, but that was explicitly disallowed because my own coverage includes a flex spend plan. We opted to drop my wife's coverage entirely. We'll see where this goes in November.