Employers are, by and large, expecting a repeal of the Affordable Care Act — but of course it's not yet known when a repeal might take place, or how much of an effect it will have on employers. In fact, how a repeal could affect them depends on a number of factors.
According to a survey conducted by insurance and financial services companies association LIMRA in December of 2016 among 1,400 companies, employers' planned responses to an expected repeal of the ACA vary, depending on the size and even the location of those businesses.
Just 9 percent of respondents expect the law won't be repealed; 67 percent of employers expect at least a partial repeal of the ACA, and 17 percent expect a full repeal.
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Considering how support for the ACA has changed among voters, the extent — if any — of change remains to be seen.
The Hill reports a Politico/Morning Consult poll shows voters split, with 45 percent approving of the ACA and 45 percent disapproving — an increase in support for the health care law from early January before the inauguration, when 41 percent approved and 52 percent did not.
In addition to support growing for the ACA, the new poll reveals that while just 12 percent of respondents want the Trump administration to keep the law in place as is and 24 percent want it repealed entirely, another 27 percent want only parts of the law repealed and 26 percent actually want the existing law expanded.
So what happens if repeal takes place? Thirty-nine percent of employers say a repeal will not affect their decisions about medical care design; however, 34 percent of respondents say they'll be more likely to change their medical plans in the event of repeal. Some of the latter group, the survey finds, may have been avoiding plan design changes to maintain "grandfathered" status.
In addition, 4 out of 10 employers say a repeal will have a moderate to significant impact on decisions about their overall benefits packages, while just 26 percent say it will have little or no impact on other benefits.
Employers most likely to predict an impact on other benefits in addition to health are large employers, located in the South, with more part-time employees and in business for less than 10 years.
"Benefit carriers can use this data as an early indication of how employers may react to changes in health insurance legislation this year," Kimberly Landry, senior research analyst, insurance research at LIMRA, says in a statement about the survey.
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