A new survey of 900 employers released from Mercer concludes that ObamaCare is increasing costs for both business and employees.  According to Mercer, “The survey found that employers have upped their estimates of the cost impact of the ACA.”  Additionally, the survey reveals the Obama Administration has done such a poor job educating businesses on the impact and requirements of the law, that with just a few months left until “open enrollment” season, employers still do not have the necessary information from the Administration.  As a result, they are scrambling to prepare for provisions set to go into effect next year.

Key Findings:

Employers expect costs to rise:

• “19% of respondents expect cost to rise significantly (by 5% or more), compared to just 15% in 2011.”

In order to maintain coverage, employees will pay more, too:

• “Nearly a third (30%) of respondents say they will require a bigger paycheck deduction for dependent coverage next year.”

Employees may not be able to keep what they have and like:

• “[G]iven the rate of increase in health benefit cost, [it] may require fundamental changes in the type of health benefit [employers] provide and how they provide it.”

Obama Administration not informing employers about requirements in the law:

• “A fourth of employers (23%) still unsure of how they will track and record the hours of employees who work variable hours, as is required by the new law in order to verify that all employees working 30+ hours are offered coverage.”
• “Most of the employers surveyed (78%) say they are concerned about the communication requirements associated with the new law.”
• “32% of employers know little about the actual cost impacts of the new changes.”