Wouldn’t it be nice to have a crystal ball right now? To see what’s around the bend for group benefits advisers in 2014? Recent data released by consulting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers show that employer health coverage actually increased from the time the health care law took effect in Massachusetts seven years ago. While it’s no true indicator of what will happen with the nationwide rollout of the Affordable Care Act, industry insiders say it could not to some overall trends.
“It’s not surprising,” says George Gonser, CEO of Spring Insurance Group in Boston, about the increase. “When we were planning back in ’06 we thought we’d see a mass exodus by employers, but we didn’t.” In fact, he says his company at the time had about 1,700 businesses as clients and only one group opted to pay the penalty and not offer health insurance. “They came back to us the next year,” he says.
