Health Care Studies Provide Insight into Employer, Employee Knowledge and Opinion of Health Care Law and Reform Efforts

Several recently-published studies on employer and employee reactions to the Affordable Care Act and its repeal efforts indicate that most are not familiar with the law, anticipate increased costs, yet reject efforts to deny agencies the funding to implement the law. One report (pdf) released by the Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI) analyzed data from two separate surveys to examine how employers might respond to health reform, and determine employees’ expectations of changes to health coverage. As outlined in the executive summary, employers are uncertain about what changes will occur to their benefit plans, but claimed that they are likely to pass along any cost increases to workers. While few employers say they will drop coverage after 2014 when many of the Affordable Care Act’s provisions take effect, they are evenly split as to whether they will change their coverage as a result.

Other notable findings from this study include:

• 40% of employers report that they are likely, and 23% state that they are “highly” likely, to pass along any health-related cost increases to their employees.
• 31% of adults with private insurance believe that their health care coverage will decline, and another 34% believe that their benefits will not change.
• 23% of employees surveyed believe that their employers are “very likely” to continue to offer health benefits in 2014, while 32% claim that their employers will “likely” do so.
• With respect to grandfathered plans, 30% of employers plan to maintain their grandfathered status; 11% do not plan to do so. Of the remainder, 21% of employers are currently or will be analyzing whether to retain grandfather status, while 21% have not yet begun to consider the issue.

Both the EBRI’s report and a study conducted by Market Strategies International – Health Care Reform 360 – came to the same conclusion – that very few employers consider themselves very knowledgeable about the new law. According to the Market Strategies International (MSI) report, an estimated one-third of employers say they have little familiarity with the Act. Employers reported that they are most familiar with the dependent child age extension; prohibition of exclusions based on pre-existing conditions; employer mandate; and the elimination of lifetime dollar maximums. Notably, employers that report they are unlikely to offer health benefits in 2014 claim to be most knowledgeable about the Affordable Care Act’s provisions. According to Susan McIntyre, senior vice president of MSI’s Health Care Division: “Our study is currently indicating an estimated 10% net decline in access to employer-sponsored benefits in 2014, but this number could rise over time as employers become more educated about the law’s impact on their bottom line.”

Finally, with respect to efforts to repeal and/or reform the Affordable Care Act, a poll conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Harvard School of Public Health finds that while 50% of Americans hold unfavorable views of the health law, the majority (62%) is against new efforts by lawmakers to slow down its implementation by denying funding. A number of bills have already been introduced that seek to deny agencies the funding or manpower to enforce various provisions of the Affordable Care Act.

This entry was written by Ilyse Schuman.

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