Not all employer health cost-cutting linked to ACA

Changes in employer-sponsored health coverage this year, such as more high-deductible plans, bigger penalties for not participating in workplace wellness programs and even elimination of spousal benefits at some workplaces are being attributed to the implementation of the ACA, even though there may not be a connection. In fact, many of these changes are part of trends that started long before Obamacare was enacted  (Source: “Workers see big health plan changes; link to Obamacare unclear,” Cincinnati Enquirer, Sept. 26, 2013). 

“Ninety-five percent of the changes have to do with just the cost of health care, and about 5 percent has to do with the Affordable Care Act,” said Greg Hand, spokesman for the University of Cincinnati, which is implementing strategies to attempt to reduce the cost of health coverage for its employees.

The mandate for large employers to provide coverage has been delayed until 2015, and yet many still say their cost-cutting measures are in response to the new law.

“Why wouldn’t you?” said Gary Claxton, a vice president at the Kaiser Family Foundation. “Clearly people are going to bring it into the discussion when they make changes, particularly if they are unpopular changes.”

To be fair, Claxton said, companies are preparing for the law and have already been required to make some changes. Covering employee dependents up to age 26 was among the biggest and most expensive of those changes, adding as much as one percentage point to the annual increase of health care costs.