Will Companies Stop Offering Health Insurance Because of the Affordable Care Act?

Wall St. Journal ^ | June 16, 2013 | SCOTT THURM

[grundle]

Analysts say they expect some employers to stop offering insurance, because the penalties will be less expensive. Other employers already are moving to reduce the law's impact by limiting hiring or reducing some workers' hours.

The law is structured in a way that may make it advantageous for certain employers to drop coverage, and advantageous for certain employees to have their coverage dropped. We hear from NFIB members just above the 50-employee threshold that they do plan to discontinue health-insurance coverage or make other personnel decisions to avoid the employer mandate.

If the law is unable to contain health-insurance costs, or worse, increases health-insurance costs significantly, we believe it will lead many employers to stop offering health insurance.

[ClearCase_guy]

It will be a competitive advantage for companies to walk away from providing these benefits. That's the whole idea. It's built right into it that companies can take the easy way out -- don't provide coverage.

And that's how Single Payer becomes the next "good idea".

[rfp1234]

Does Ursus arctos defecate among the conifers?

[pennyfarmer]

Polar bears generally crap on the ice. Haven’t you seen them going to sea on a small iceberg? LOL

[Dilbert San Diego]

as far as single payer being the next good idea........

Maybe I’m out of it as far as the liberals and low information voters and how they look at things. My thoughts are that it’s the liberals and the Democrats who gave us Obamacare in the first place. As we see the wreckage of Obamacare in the years ahead, are the voters really going to listen to the liberals plans to “fix” the mess they created, by then proposing single payer socialized medicine? Would the voters reward the party which will have totally destroyed our existing healthcare system?

How much confidence will people have in the party which brought us Obamacare, to give us the plan which will really work this time???

[pennyfarmer]

Ursus Ursus or Ursus Horriblous are generally the ones taking a dump in the woods.

[ClearCase_guy]

We will have to see how it plays out, but I believe the plan is to break what we have had -- reasonable health insurance, for most, through employer-supported health benefits. Once that is broken and companies just don't want to be responsible for that, I don't think it's easy to go back to it. It's a bit like mending a broken egg. At that point, the old way is gone, and what we have is Obamacare. And that will be bad. And everyone will say "This is bad. We need something new."

And at that point, either the GOP or the Democrats will say, "Canada has Single Payer ... and everyone thinks it's swell."

I think it will be a slam dunk. Unfortunately.

[Nachoman]

The reason employers offer health insurance is to make their compensation package more attractive to quality employees. Dropping insurance will just send workers running to other companies that offer it.

[cableguymn]

OR... Your competitor drops it, so you do as well.

It’s like airlines and rate increases. Once one does it, the rest follow suit. Many just don’t want to be first.

[sickoflibs]

I read an article here, not sure if it is true, that said that companies can offer insurance that meets the mandates without actually covering treatment for illnesses.
It just covers tests and stuff.

And if a companies changes insurers or policies what good is the pre-existing conditions mandates?

[yldstrk]

good guess

[Grams A]

My neighbor’s son was recently told by his supervisor that their company may drop insurance coverage and just increase the employee’s salary by a substantial amount in January 2014. Since he’s single, in his late 20’s and very healthy he certainly doesn’t mind having the extra money. Not sure people with families that work there think about this option.

[TomGuy]

That was sort of the long range intent. Drive private insurance companies out of business; thus, making the only insurance available is that through the Obamacare state exchanges. And since insurance is mandatory under Obamacare, people have to buy it — from private companies or the exchanges.

[mykroar]

That’s what I said from the beginning. I expect my corp to be first in line. (and while I dread it, I will enjoy watching all libtards whine and bitch about the evil company)

[ArmstedFragg]

The sense I get is that it’ll be an evolutionary change. From the California set-up anyway, the exchanges in some counties only have three or four choices, and some of those are just medical groups that currently contract with MediCal. The combination of the coverage mandates and the payout requirements will make the business unprofitable for some of them, and they’ll drop out. Kaiser is a big player in the California system and is one of the listed options in areas where they have no facility and will have to contract for care, presumably by physicians who also contract with the other companies in their district. I think the combination of those factors will result in defacto single payer in some counties, and it’ll just continue evolving that way.

[Slyfox]

Everything Obama touches turns to crap.

[okie01]

Everything Obama touches turns to crap.

And he believes it's loaves for the masses.

[Mike Darancette]

..thus, making the only insurance available is that through the Obamacare state exchanges.

The exchanges are a collection of private companies.

[I am Richard Brandon]

The most transparent thing Obozo’s mob have done. Lure them into dropping company-provided insurance, first move people to the exchanges, then move them all to Single Payer. And as for “It’s OK because you like Medicaid” - that offering is getting worse by the day, very much more expensive every year, and scarcer all the time. I call “BS.”

[steve86]

I don’t understand what you’re saying about Medicaid. It has no premiums. Do agree about pretty much everything getting worse by the day.