The dust has settled on the Supreme Court’s decision to uphold the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Now, for employers, the decision point remains the same: Continue to offer health benefits directly to employees or pay the penalty for opting out of group health coverage and “push” employees to enroll in a health exchange.
Recent survey results published by Deloitte show that approximately 10% of employers plan on opting out of group health coverage. An additional 10% are not sure if they will continue to offer the coverage. Other studies have shown a range of results. The bottom line is that employers will continue to struggle with this decision until the health insurance exchanges become operational in 2014. How can they make a decision without knowing what an employee will experience in an exchange, and beyond?
