The move also helps Orica comply with the minimum benefit requirements of PPACA, while at the same time lowering costs.

“We knew if we didn't do something like this, in 10 years our costs would have been just out of control,” Peabody said in a later interview. “Aon's exchange enables us to offer a wider range of plans, because trying to administer five plans on our own would have been a nightmare.”

In the survey, just under a third (30 percent) said they considered moving their employees onto exchanges, compared to 70 percent who haven't considered such a move. However, most (73 percent) have at least consulted with their broker about the exchanges, while 27 percent had not.

Loretta Camp, principal of Davidson and Camp Insurance Services in San Antonio, said that as a small employer, she was in a position to consider health care “on an individualized basis.” The firm found that employees could get more affordable plans either through their spouses' employers, or individual coverage either on or off the exchange, so the firm discontinued its own plan.

“I think the biggest hurdle for employers today is making sure our employees understand how to review their benefit options, comparing group plans and individual opportunities both on and off exchange and to quell some of the panic over how the media — and misinformed consumers — is now portraying how horrible health care plans now are because of [PPACA],” Camp says.

In some instances the law has driven up costs, but there are still viable plans available, she says. Moreover, the changes have stimulated new and creative approaches to assisting employers and employees in meeting their needs.

“There is a lot of confusion out there right now, but our employees don't have to be concerned that everything is going to be taken away from them,” Camp says. “As employers, it's our responsibility to focus on the meat of the law, keep them informed of pertinent changes, and provide resources for personal assistance. This is just a start, and there will surely be more changes to come, but people need not be fearful.”

Another employer who preferred not to be named said that after PPACA's passage, he chose to keep his staff under 50 to eliminate the requirement to offer health care insurance. He also turned all of his employees into 1099 independent contractors, “to get me out of the employee business.”

“[PPACA] is the worst thing possible and is destroying the best health system in the world,” he says. “I only hope we can keep the pieces together to get another administration in place to cancel and start over again.”

In the survey, nearly two-thirds (64 percent) of respondents said they expected their employees to pick up more of the tab for their own benefits in the coming year, as opposed to 36 percent who did not.

Similarly, 63 percent said their company has considered expanding the use or implementation of consumer-driven plans, in which employees use health savings accounts, health reimbursement accounts or similar medical payment products to pay for lower-cost health care expenses directly, in conjunction with a high-deductible plan that protects them from catastrophic medical expenses. In the survey, 37 percent did not consider such plans.

Less than half (44 percent) of the respondents said they offer HSAs, while 56 percent don't. Of those employers that offered the accounts, 47 percent said that less than a quarter of their employees took advantage of this benefit, 27 percent that between a quarter and a half did, 14 percent said that between a half and three-quarters did, and 12 percent said that between three-quarters and all of their employees did.