On May 25, Towers Watson & Co. released a survey on the impact of the national health care reform law on employer-sponsored insurance.  The survey found that 90 percent of employers believe the law will increase their health care benefit costs, 88 percent plan to pass those costs on to employees, and 74 percent plan to reduce health benefits and programs.  Most employers surveyed plan to continue offering health benefits to their employees in 2014, once the employer requirement to either offer full-time employees minimal essential coverage or pay an annual penalty takes effect; 46 percent report that they will definitely offer coverage, 42 percent report that they are likely to offer coverage, and only 3 percent report that they will opt to pay the penalty rather than offer coverage.

From the report:

Employers have little hope that the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) will help them achieve their top goals to decrease health care cost trend and improve workforce health. Indeed, most employers are convinced that health care reform will lead to increased costs and a stepped-up exodus from employer-provided retiree medical coverage, but they remain committed to their role in providing employer-based coverage — at least for now, according to the findings of a May 2010 Towers Watson survey on health care reform.

Full report: http://www.towerswatson.com/united-states/research/1935

Towers Watson. (2010). The impact of health care reform on employers.