Employers Weigh In On Actions In The Event Of An ACA Repeal

It should come as no surprise that the Affordable Care Act has produced a myriad of opinions from consumers to their employers to those in government. But what would happen if one day the ACA was no more? While only six years old, should the ACA be repealed one day, employers have their own actions in mind for employee health care should that day arrive.

In a report from the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans, employer stats are revealed based on the impact the ACA has on their companies along with concerns they have as the 2020 Cadillac Tax approaches. The seventh survey, released on March 17, 2016, has been issued annually since the ACA first took shape in 2010. Here is a tip sheet of stats from the report:

· 44% of employers were opposed to the idea of an ACA repeal, 35% were in favor of it.

· Should a repeal happen, 58% are confident that a new bill would be passed in its place within the four-year span of the next Presidential term.

· In terms of provisions, there are three in particular employers that would want to be kept as well as feel like their employees would want to be kept. That includes the elimination of preexisting conditions (38% of employers want it kept, 49% feel their employees would want it kept), children covered to the adult age of 26 (31% of employers want it kept, 65% feel their employees would want it kept), and the continued elimination of cost-sharing for preventative health care (25% of employers want it kept, 39% feel their employees would want it kept).

· 97% of employers would keep health care coverage for full-time employees in 2016. However, 3% of employers say it is unlikely that they would continue coverage five years from now. Almost 40% will definitely continue coverage.

· With regard to the 2020 Cadillac Tax, 38% plan on taking action to avoid the excise tax before the year 2020, 28% are planning changes to avoid the tax.

· For part-time employees, over 42% of employers will definitely continue coverage next year, and less than 1% definitely won’t.

To view the full report, click here.