The nation's large self-insured employers are beginning to abandon their health benefit programs

[riderinthestorm]

26. One in ten businesses set to drop their health care coverage this year

Boy have I been flamed for this earlier when I've posted it - called a RW troll, shill and worse. This trend was a no brainer. The only silver lining is that perhaps it will squeeze companies enough they will put on major pressure for the Admin to take the next step and create a public option (or maybe even single payer? A girl can dream.....) The short term however will be quite painful. If enough middle and upper management folks begin to experience the insurance nightmares that some of the rest of us have been facing, it may help to spur desperately needed reform.

From a study done by Deloitte:

"But around one in three respondents said they could decide to stop offering health coverage if they find that the law requires them to provide more generous benefits than they do at the moment; if a tax on high-cost plans takes effect in 2018 as scheduled; or if they conclude that the cost of penalties for not providing insurance could be less expensive than paying for benefits.

Penalties for not providing health benefits after 2014 start at $2,000 per worker for companies with 50 or more full-time employees. Most companies already spend thousands of dollars more to cover each worker, although those costs come with tax breaks and can also reduce the wages that employees expect.

The study, conducted between February and April, surveyed corporate and human-resources executives from 560 companies currently offering benefits, Deloitte said. Companies weren't named in the report. The survey was done before the Supreme Court ruled to uphold the overhaul law in June. The firm said it doesn't believe that affects the results, as most employers didn't seem to expect the law would be voided."

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390443437504577545770682810842.html