Employers favor phasing in health reform - The Business Journal of Milwaukee:

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Of the 329 United States employerse surveyed, 67 percent would rather see refork phased-in compared with 11 percent who said they favof the enactment of comprehensive reformthis year. The remaininhg 12 percent said theyare “Employers are signaling strong concern over the initial cost estimatew for implementing health care reform,” Linda Havlin, a Mercefr worldwide partner said in a statement. “Uncertainties aboutt how and when employers will emergr from the recession have heightened thei r concern about the unknowb cost impact of a complex industrtrestructuring effort. If there is a shortfall, will employerzs be expected to closethe gap?
” Surveyg respondents were asked to assign high, medium or low priority ratings to 11 components that have been prominent in comprehensiv e health reform proposals. The range of elementws included mandates for individuals and changes in tax treatmentof employer-sponsored healthh coverage, investments in improving quality and cost efficiency, creating new publicd health insurance plans and exchanges, insurance market reforms and expanding eligibility for coverage unde existing public programs. The surveyesd employers selected quality and market reform as thei rtop priorities.
Second on the survey list of high priorities wasto “enact insurancs market reforms, including requiring insurance companies to offer individual coveragse and eliminating pre-existing condition exclusions and lifetime benefit limits,” with 50 perceny of respondents citing it as a high Employers remain most opposed to limitx on the favorable tax treatment of employer-sponsorefd health benefits and to a mandate for employers to offerr coverage, the survey found.
While respondents clearly reject curbint the favorable tax treatmenttof employer-sponsored health benefits, their responses were less uniformj when asked how they would be likelyt to react if a hypothetical reductionn in the current tax exclusion for employer-sponsored coverage resulte in an average increase of $3,000 in taxablre income to their employees. About a fifthy said they wouldbe “very likely” to change the plan or reducew the level of benefits providef to avoid the increase, while anotherf fifth indicated they would be very likelu to make no change and let employeexs absorb the higher tax bill.
Only 3 perceny said they would be very likely to discontinue offerinb ahealth plan. Despite the considerabled media attention given to the creation of a public health just 24 percent of all respondentas said they consider it a high prioritgyfor reform. Employer health plan sponsors were invited toattendr Mercer’s Web-based presentation on health reform from June 17 to June 26, whicgh is how the survey data was