Despite the frenzied response to health insurance cancellation letters and spousal benefit cuts, a growing body of evidence suggests most Americans working for larger companies will—and want to—receive their health coverage the way they always have: through their employer.
“The bottom line is that most workers’ firms will be dominated by workers who receive better benefits and, through the tax system, better subsidies through employer-provided coverage than through [the] newly created insurance exchanges,” the nonpartisan Urban Institute said, emphasizing that such benefits make it unlikely that individuals will choose an ACA plan over their employer-offered coverage.
That sentiment was echoed in a recent report by Valence Health, which indicated that 46% of Americans would choose to accept healthcare through their employer rather than receive a salary increase or stipend to purchase insurance out-of-pocket. Another 39% said they were “very unlikely” to use one of the new ACA exchanges to purchase health insurance directly.
This is especially true for larger businesses, research confirms. In a recent report from the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans (IFEBP), nearly all commercial respondents said they will “definitely” or “very likely” continue to provide health insurance coverage in 2014.
The IFEBP found that most businesses employing between 51 and 5,000 workers estimate increased costs due to the ACA will fall in the 1-4% range, making this a viable option. This stands in stark contrast with the 51.2% of small businesses who say the ACA will increase their costs by more than 10%.
Predictions from these research groups echo findings from a PricewaterhouseCoopers study on health reform in Massachusetts, where employer-sponsored coverage actually increased after the state passed legislation requiring all residents to carry health insurance.
“The number of people covered by insurance through the workplace increased by about 1 percentage point, running counter to the rest of the nation,” the report said, noting that employer-based insurance elsewhere in the US declined by 5.7 percentage points during the same period.
