Dive Brief:
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Whatever other issues it has caused, the Affordable Care Act has not, despite dire predictions, led employers to drop healthcare benefits and force workers to buy their own coverage on the open market, according to a reflection from the New York Times.
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The Times reports that most employers, especially large ones, who offered coverage before the ACA remain committed to health benefits for their workforces. While about 155 million Americans have employer-based health insurance coverage in 2016, a number which may dip by a few million by 2019, the Congressional Budget Office predicts the number will remain stable through 2026, according to their analysis.
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While not a surprise to HR leaders, healthcare benefits have and will continue to represent a fundamental talent recruitment and retention tool, especially as the labor market tightens up.
Dive Insight:
According to the Times, the unexpected trend has perhaps shown that the ACA not only didn't disrupt the country’s health insurance system foundation, it also added millions of low-income, uninsured Americans to healthcare at the same time.
“The employer-based system is alive and well,” Jeff Alter, the chief executive of the commercial insurance business for UnitedHealthcare, told the Times, which noted that even original ACA critics, especially GOP presidential candidates, have been silent about early claims that the ACA would wreck employer coverage.
