Some Companies to Consider Jettisoning Coverage under Exchanges by 2014

A lot of what happens in 2014 will depend on what happens in 2012. Take this item, for example:

A large majority of employers in both studies said they expect to continue offering benefits once the exchanges start. But former insurance executive Bob Laszewski said he was surprised that as many as 8 or 9 percent of companies already expect to drop coverage a couple of years before the exchanges start.

 

A lot of what happens in 2014 will depend on what happens in 2012. Take this item, for example:

A large majority of employers in both studies said they expect to continue offering benefits once the exchanges start. But former insurance executive Bob Laszewski said he was surprised that as many as 8 or 9 percent of companies already expect to drop coverage a couple of years before the exchanges start.

 

Apparently, according to this survey, some employers are considering dropping their employer-sponsored plans on the heels of reform-generated healthcare exchanges. The decision by these companies to consider foregoing the costs of their coverage if they assume that fines levied will be a “cheaper” option is somewhat problematic, perhaps in the short term. If recruitment of workers is affected by a move to shutter employer-sponsored plans, for instance, smaller companies may have to rethink this strategy — especially in the face of likely government subsidies starting in ’14, that will assist them in this endeavor of corporate coverage.

For larger companies that can resist the likely call by GOP rabble-rousers as contributing to government-run “dumping” of consumers into exchanges, the joke may be on the punditry — as the entire healthcare marketplace would likely benefit from the influx of potential consumerism and competition among private carriers within those government created exchanges. Sure, some companies may be thinking of making these “painful” decisions now, but we will have to get through ’12 first to see exactly what forms insurance purchasing in the expanded marketplace will take. This point may be a moot one by January 2013.

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