Most employers keeping current health plan while reform law plays out

By: Gavin Souter (Business Journal) October 2013

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — Most employers will wait and see how health care reform plays out after implementation of key provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act in the first couple years, but the law ultimately could lead to major changes in how employers offer benefits, a benefits consultant said.

Brokers serving those employers need to acknowledge those likely changes and help employers work through the confusion that still surrounds the law, Michael Turpin, executive vice president, senior consultant health and employee benefits at USI Insurance Services L.L.C., said Tuesday.

First, however, employers and brokers should ignore the rhetoric surrounding health care reform and focus on the law, the Briarcliff Manor, N.Y.-based executive said.

“The law is in place, the law is going to move forward and, given our polarized Congress, I don’t think we are going to see too many modifications to it,” Mr. Turpin said during a session of the Insurance Leadership Council in Colorado Springs, Colo., which is sponsored by the Council of Insurance Agents and Brokers.

The first signs of how successful the reforms have been will come to light when the first round of renewals of policies bought through public exchanges takes place. Then it will become apparent whether the exchanges are financially viable or whether they attract largely high-frequency users of health care services, Mr. Turpin said.
Most keeping current health plans

Currently, employers generally are waiting to see such indicators before implementing significant changes to their plans, he said. While some large employers are adjusting their health care plans for retirees and other employers operating in low-margin industries are placing employees in private exchanges, most are maintaining their current health plans, Mr. Turpin said.