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Employers aim to avoid ACA cost increases

Posted on February 19th, 2013 Read time: 1 minutes

The majority of employers aim to steer clear of health insurance cost increases associated with healthcare reform, according to a recent survey by Willis Group Holdings.

The insurance broker's Health Care Reform Survey 2013, which was released last week, found 60 percent of employers stated avoiding benefits expense increases is very important to their business, however, more than half had not calculated how much their expenditures will actually grow.

While keeping costs at bay is a priority for business owners, the majority do not think healthcare reform will affect how much they pay for employee health insurance. Only 20 percent of surveyed employers plan to adjust other benefits, like retirement, dental and vision coverage, salaries, vacation time and bonuses to offset the cost of ACA compliance.

They survey also measured how employers believe other companies will handle healthcare reform. More than half of respondents believe their competitors will shift costs to workers but only 34 percent said they'd do the same.

With many employers planning to extend coverage to meet the ACA's minimum requirements, government officials and consumer advocates are afraid self-insuring will drive up costs for workers at companies that sign up with a commercial insurer on the benefits exchange, The New York Times reports.

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