While single employee costs decreased, family costs increased. Employees with dependents had to pick up 3 percent more of the family premium, or $492 on average.

The average salary increase for salaried exempt workers will be right around 3 percent, Aon Hewitt found. Thats up slightly from the 2.9 percent seen in 2013, and would be the highest annual hike since 2008, when increases were at 3.7 percent.

The institute's aim is to help create a large body of knowledge that would be the basis for best practices both procedural and spending-wise for a range of medical procedures.

Keas said its survey of more than 100 HR professionals found that three-quarters of them had taken steps to meet the laws original Jan. 1 deadline, and another 58 percent were confident they would be fully compliant by then.

Majority of Americans remain unaware, confused and unprepared for looming changes to their benefits coverage.

The Seattle-based caffeine vendor, which employs 150,000 full-time workers worldwide and many thousands more in part-time positions, says it will not try to shift full-time workers to part-time status in order to avoid paying healthcare costs as required by the PPACA.

Some political conservatives are sure to balk, but according to these economists, the PPACA has had little or no real impact on the relatively high percentage of part-time workers seen today.

In the run-up to the Oct. 1 launch of the state insurance exchanges, the National Journal asked how important the first days of the exchanges would prove to be. The answer: Not at all.