5 cost-saving tactics for ACA compliance

Many employers are already making changes to their medical plans in anticipation of the excise tax in 2018. Also known as the Cadillac tax, it’s a 40% tax on the value of medical benefits over a set threshold. Organizations likely to hit the threshold have time to plan for a “soft landing” by phasing in changes to reset benefit cost at a lower level now, Mercer says. The most common strategies are adding in low-cost consumer-directed health plans and eliminating the highest-cost plan offered today.

All employers should take a closer look at how they subsidize dependent and spousal coverage, Mercer suggests. Employers are increasingly implementing working spouse provisions that either eliminate coverage for spouses with health insurance offered elsewhere or imposing a surcharge on their coverage. The 2013 Mercer National Survey of Employer-Sponsored Health Plans found 16% of large employers have such a provision, up from 12% in 2012.