Other responses to the merger:

• 21 percent believe it will lead to greater cost efficiencies in health plan management;

• 33 percent said they don't think such a merger will have any effect on their organization's health plans over time;

• 76 percent said they doubted industry consolidation would affect them in the short term;

• 14 percent said they're going to watch the fall-out from the merger before making any "custom group or exchange-based strategies;"

• 10 percent saw an opportunity "to make changes and leverage the potential for new market efficiencies."

When Aon Hewitt queried these respondents about their proclivity for revising current health plans, 44 percent said they "do not expect to make any meaningful changes to their overall health strategies."

Meanwhile the other 54 percent said they are considering the following:

• Reassessing their current vendor within the next two years (38 percent);

• Adopting third-party vendor solutions, such as telemedicine or transparency to supplement what the health plan provides (13 percent);

• Supplementing national carriers with regional/local players (5 percent).

"Despite whether employers think merger consolidation is good or bad for the industry, most do not feel the need to wait to see how the market shakes out before moving forward with the analysis and implementation of their longer-term health care strategies," said Tucker Sharp, global chief broking officer of Aon Health. "Employers know they need to take action now to address the impact of inevitable premium increases and the upcoming 2018 Affordable Care Act excise tax."