Even if President-elect Donald Trump succeeds in repealing the Affordable Care Act, most companies will continue to offer many of the popular provisions of the law to their employees.
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A survey of human resources executives by outplacement firm Challenger Gray and Christmas found that 100 percent of them said that they would continue to provide coverage to employees with pre-existing conditions, and 60 percent said they’d continue to offer coverage to employee’s children through age 26.
Even before the advent of Obamacare, employer-sponsored health care plans were typically more generous than the plans available on the individual market. Insurance obtained through the federal and state exchanges could see much more substantial modifications if a repeal were to pass.
The cost of employer-sponsored health care has been on the rise for years, although the rate of the increase has been slowing as more companies shift to consumer-driven plans and find other ways to reduce costs. More than 150 million Americans receive health care coverage from their employer or a family member’s employer.
More than two-thirds of the human resource executives surveyed said that they support a repeal of the law, but just over a quarter believe that it will be entirely eliminated.
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“The fact is that employers benefit from a healthy workforce, so there is a vested interest in ensuring that employees have access to health care,” Challenge, Gray & Christmas CEO John A. Challenger said in a statement. “What they are against, however, is a maze of new and complex rules and regulations that make their already difficult job more taxing.”
