Weekly Checkup No. 013: Dropping Coverage for High-Risk Employees
One of the most controversial questions regarding health reform is whether or not employers will drop health insurance in 2014 when the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is fully implemented and employees are able to purchase health plans in the exchanges. Currently, roughly 60 percent of the non-elderly population is covered by employer sponsored insurance. Studies done by the American Action Forum, Employment Policies Institute, and McKinsey & Company all point to the financial incentive for employers to drop coverage altogether. However, even more harmful to the ACA’s goal of affordable, universal, coverage is the scenario in which employers offer health insurance, but structure plan offerings in a way that encourages only their high-risk employees to buy plans on the individual market.
