Survey: Employers Will Pass Obamacare Costs onto Employees - Critical Condition - National Review Online

Survey: Employers Will Pass Obamacare Costs onto Employees - Critical Condition - National Review Online

Towers Watson, a leading human resources consulting firm, has conducted a survey of 661 human resource and benefit specialists across America. While benefit professionals are still digesting the new law, the survey shows that they are even more skeptical of Obamacare than the public is.

These benefit specialists represent a broad range of industries, and are responsible for choosing health-insurance plans for almost 4 million Americans. If their fears come true, the future of American health care is bleak. Among the highlights:

● 90 percent believe that Obamacare “will increase their organization’s health care benefit costs”;

● 88 percent intend to pass the increases onto employees by increasing employee premium contributions or other cost-sharing measures;

● 74 percent intend to “reduce health benefits and programs” by using stingier health plans, restricting eligibility for health coverage, and using spousal waivers or surcharges.

By a wide margin, employers’ three top priorities for health-care policy are containing health-care costs (96 percent saying it is a high priority); encouraging healthier lifestyles (88 percent); and improving the quality of care (75 percent). Only 25 percent of those surveyed believe that the law will actually encourage healthier lifestyles, and only 20 percent believe it will improve the quality of care.