Survey: Few firms plan to cut coverage as health law takes effect

A small number of firms are planning to stop employee health coverage as the Affordable Care Act takes effect, according to a new survey.

Mercer, the human resources consulting firm, found that seven percent of large employers believe it is "likely" or "very likely" they will terminate employee health insurance in the next five years. Among smaller firms, the number was slightly higher, at 22 percent.

The findings respond to a common Republican argument against the healthcare law — that it incentivizes employers to stop offering health insurance by raising healthcare costs and offering an alternative in state health exchanges. 

In May, a House Ways and Means Committee report found that Fortune 100 companies would save about $6 billion over the next decade by dropping employee health coverage.

“Anyone who gets insurance through their job should be worried about what will happen next, because there is a distinct financial incentive for employers to terminate healthcare coverage under the Democrats’ healthcare law,” Ways and Means Chairman Dave Camp (R-Mich.) said in a statement.

On Wednesday, Mercer found a slight uptick in the share of employers that offered health coverage in 2012. The small rise — from 55 to 59 percent — reversed declines seen in 2011 and 2010.

The firm pointed to employers' success in curbing rising health costs as one reason they may feel able to offer insurance over the next five years.

Employers' healthcare costs grew 4.1 percentage points in 2012 — the smallest increase in 15 years — Mercer found.

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