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Companies weigh dropping health insurance after law change, survey finds
js online ^ | 8/25/2011 | By Rick Romell

Posted on 08/25/2011 9:22:04 AM PDT by tobyhill

What will happen with Americans' health insurance in 2014 remains guesswork, but this much is clear: A significant number of employers will at least think about dropping coverage.

That point was driven home again Wednesday with the release of another survey on how companies plan to address the sweeping changes generated by the Affordable Care Act of 2010.

The latest results come from professional services firm Towers Watson, which said 9% of the midsize and large companies it recently polled plan to drop employer-sponsored health insurance after the Affordable Care Act takes effect in 2014.

Other research has predicted that even more firms will drop coverage, letting employees buy insurance on their own through the online marketplaces, or exchanges, that will be established.

That's assuming, of course, that the U.S. Supreme Court, which is widely expected to rule on the act, doesn't toss it out as unconstitutional.

"There are just a lot of unanswered questions, and a lot of it's speculation," said Dale Thoma, managing partner for Willis of Wisconsin, Inc., an arm of global insurance broker Willis Group Holdings.

But clients, he said, are asking for help exploring options, including the possibility of dropping coverage three years from now.

"Absolutely, people are talking about it," Thoma said. "It will probably be the No. 1 topic in our business."

Others have noticed the same talk.

Dianne Kiehl, executive director of the Business Health Care Group, a coalition of Milwaukee-area employers created to slow rising costs, said her members are "all kind of still waiting" but some haven't ruled out dropping coverage.

(Excerpt) Read more at jsonline.com ...


TOPICS: Extended News; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: coverage; employers; jobs; obamacare

1 posted on 08/25/2011 9:22:10 AM PDT by tobyhill
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To: tobyhill

Well...duh...that’s the object of Obamacare....to bring folks to their knees.


2 posted on 08/25/2011 9:23:27 AM PDT by Sacajaweau
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To: tobyhill

if obamacare survives that long.


3 posted on 08/25/2011 9:24:41 AM PDT by ken21 (ruling class dem + rino progressives -- destroying america for 150 years.)
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To: tobyhill

I don’t understand

I thought employers had to offer health insurance that Teddy Kennedy had instituted that as a way to “universally cover” everybody


4 posted on 08/25/2011 9:25:17 AM PDT by yldstrk (My heroes have always been cowboys)
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To: tobyhill

“That point was driven home again Wednesday with the release of another survey on how companies plan to address the sweeping changes generated by the Affordable Care Act of 2010.”.....

The only sweeping going on will be the sweep of socialists out of office and the repeal of all their crap legislation.


5 posted on 08/25/2011 9:26:50 AM PDT by AngelesCrestHighway
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To: tobyhill

I think companies won’t have any more trouble dumping healthcare than they did pensions. Overall, I think unhinging healthcare from employment is the right thing, even though the impact may be painful for folks like me and my wife (she is a stroke survivor), but hopefully there would be an option for us. With the right options, small business may take off again. I know many who stay in large companies rather than try something on their own because of healthcare.


6 posted on 08/25/2011 9:30:45 AM PDT by DonaldC (A nation cannot stand in the absence of religious principle.)
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To: tobyhill

I distinctively remember Obama telling us we could keep our current health care.


7 posted on 08/25/2011 9:31:00 AM PDT by mlocher (Is it time to cash in before I am taxed out?)
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To: ken21
if obamacare survives that long.

The actual obamacare plan has been defunded under that name but the structure is still being built up. This is why you should NEVER give them any power over you. They will abuse it. Remember, the Social Security number was never intended to be used for identification and the IRS would only have authority over the very highest incomes in the US.

8 posted on 08/25/2011 9:31:38 AM PDT by Cowman (How can the IRS seize property without a warrant if the 4th amendment still stands?)
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To: tobyhill

The road to single payer health care!

Indiana University is buying up private health care facilities and buying out doctors in Indiana under the auspices of “IU Health” as I type this response.

I’m sure other states have something similiar going on.


9 posted on 08/25/2011 10:53:12 AM PDT by sonofagun (Some think my cynicism grows with age. I like to think of it as wisdom!)
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