Even if an employer holds off on extending health care coverage to all employees until the new Affordable Care Act deadline of 2015, plan design changes and additional enrollment should drive up health plan costs 2% to 3% next year, according to an analysis from Mercer, which says price is still a tremendous issue for companies grappling with health care reform. Avoiding the excise “Cadillac” tax of 2018 is already driving internal changes, says Julio A. Portalatin, Mercer president and CEO.
“The delay will give employers more time to cope with some of the requirements, but they know it’s no free pass,” Portalatin says. “We expect employers to stay 100% focused on cost management. Last year they slowed benefit cost growth to its lowest level in 15 years, but in 2014 they have the new fees and the likelihood of new enrollment to contend with, on top of normal medical inflation.”
