Almost half of private-company CEOs and CTOs surveyed by PricewaterhouseCoopers say health-care overhaul legislation may affect their business financially, while another 31% say it’s too soon to assess the impact.
The uncertainty isn’t totally surprising, since most of the provisions of the bill haven’t kicked in yet. But employers are still sussing out even the provisions that took effect Sept. 23 — or will in the next plan year.
Take the requirement that plans cover dependents until age 26, for example: 28% say they’re not certain of the impact (or didn’t answer the question). Another 29% said it would likely have no impact, and 43% said it would have either a slight or moderate/significant impact.
The executives surveyed said the increase in Medicare tax on high-income individuals would have the biggest financial impact — 31% reported it would have a moderate or significant impact. (Then again, 27% said it would likely have no impact.) The provision getting the greatest proportion of “no impact” votes — 66% –? was the penalty for companies with 50 or more employers that fail to provide minimal affordable coverage.
The new PwC survey covers the views of 224 CEOs and CTOs representing private companies averaging $257 million in annual sales.
Even without knowing the full financial impact of the law, some 70% say they’ll reevaluate their company’s overall benefit strategy and 60% plan to change benefits to comply with the law. More than half — 52% — say they’re likely to change employee contributions for medical coverage. That’s not too far off from a recent National Business Group on Health survey reporting 63% of big employers plan to increase the proportion of premiums paid by workers.
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