The result? Nearly 75 percent of them said they'd preferred the good old days, while a clear majority of them backed that up by saying they'd plan to offer benefits plans similar to their pre-PPACA coverage.

Interestingly enough, less than 10 percent of respondents plan to toss their workforces into the exchanges, while more than a quarter admitted to thinking about making some cuts in coverage.

"The people we speak with are grateful the election has passed because now they know the direction in which we're heading—even if they don't necessarily like the direction," said John Turner, CEO of Corporate Synergies Group, in press release. "There are still a lot of variables that need to be considered by employers, but it's good that the ground has stopped moving beneath our feet."

All of that being said, the real story in this survey is how many employers are gonna have to play catch up now that we've reached a point of no return. Nearly 20 percent of them said they'd have to ramp up their implementation efforts—as if election night represented their last chance at a reprieve.

And I've heard this a lot. Now that we've got some kind of resolution (closure?) life should be a little easier, whether you like the end result or not. But I'm not sure if the ground stopped moving yet, since the news just broke that Health and Human Service Secretary Kathleen Sebelius just decided to push the deadline (originally set for later this week) for the states' exchange plans. I wish I had that much deadline flexibility.

And don't think for a second that before full implementation, we'll see more than a few more changes to the existing legislation. And, who knows, maybe the only mandate we'll have left is the one the politicians think they got from voters.