In a survey of 1,300 employers, McKinsey & Company found that 30 percent have definite or probable plans to stop offering health coverage after health reform’s provisions take full effect in 2014.  Among employers rated as having a high awareness of the law, 50 percent planned to eliminate health coverage.  McKinsey attribute the finding to reduced costs and a perceived reduction in employers’ moral obligation to provide coverage in light of the law’s provisions.

From the report:

As much as the Affordable Care Act (ACA) was intended to overhaul the nation’s healthcare industry, its impact is being felt well beyond the medical sector. The law sets in motion the most far-reaching change in the value and nature of employer-provided health benefits in a generation. It introduces new requirements for employers, but more importantly provides significant opportunities for businesses to completely rethink benefits strategies. Beginning in 2014, all companies with more than 50 employees must provide health insurance or pay a penalty. Their decisions will rest on a complicated mix of direct economic and non-economic factors.

Full Report: Employers Planning Now for a Post-Reform World (PDF | 177 KB)

McKinsey & Company. (2011). Employers planning now for a post-reform world. Garrett, B., Connolly, C., and Kocher, B.