Health care costs continue to bedevil managers of small-to-mid-sized businesses. But talent acquisition is quickly catching up to health insurance as a limiting factor in their growth, and the competition from U.S. and foreign firms is heating up.

These are some of the high-level findings of a comprehensive study produced by Lucas Group, a national recruitment firm specializing in search and placement services for strategic business functions. Lucas does a quarterly survey of top executives in this business segment, and found that many are redesigning health plans to try to adjust to the effects of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

The SMB Job Generation Outlook probed respondents on the PPACA as businesses with 50 or more employees get ready for the law's employer mandate that will require them to provide health insurance to employees or pay a penalty.

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Dan Cook

Dan Cook is a journalist and communications consultant based in Portland, OR. During his journalism career he has been a reporter and editor for a variety of media companies, including American Lawyer Media, BusinessWeek, Newhouse Newspapers, Knight-Ridder, Time Inc., and Reuters. He specializes in health care and insurance related coverage for BenefitsPRO.