Many cut costs rather than comply with PPACA

Jeremy Merrin, right, owner of Havana Central restaurants, listens during a conversation with Rosalyn Rentas, general manager, in New York. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews)

As employers digest the tenets of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, most have not taken drastic measures to avoid triggering certain requirements of PPACA. Small employers have shown a stronger tendency to take actions such as freezing hiring or cutting back on fulltime workers to remain under the 50-employee trigger. But even small employers aren’t acting en masse to skirt the act. 

That’s the big picture finding from a survey of nearly 700 HR professionals by the International Foundation of Employee Benefits Plans. While about half the respondents said the act has negatively impacted their business, most haven’t taken steps to avoid compliance. Instead, they are taking cost-cutting measures by transferring more responsibility for health insurance payments to their employers.