About 10% of employers with fewer than 500 workers and about 20% of larger employers say they may reduce spending on nonmedical group benefits as a result of the Affordable Care Act.
A unit of MetLife Inc., New York (NYSE:MET), has published that finding in a summary of results from a survey of 1,508 benefits decisionmakers at companies with at least 2 employees that was conducted in late 2010.
The Affordable Care Act – the legislative package that includes the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) – already has started to take effect, and more provisions are supposed to take effect between now and 2014.
More than 80% of the benefits decisionmakers polled said their companies have no plans to cut back on nonmedical benefits as a result of the Affordable Care Act, and 43% said they strongly believe that offering nonmedical benefits will become a more important strategy for their companies over the next 5 years.
The poll also found that 39% employers with more than 500 employees said they are considering changes to their health plan designs and that 40% said they may share more costs with employees. Only 28% of the smaller employers said they are considering changes in plan design, and only 28% said are considering increases in cost-sharing.
MetLife also found that 57% of the employers with fewer than 500 employees and 48% of the employers with 500 or more workers said they expect to rely more heavily on consultants, brokers and agents for help with buying benefits.
- Warren S. Hersch
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