Critics has frequently claimed the Affordable Care Act (ACA) also known as “Obamacare,” is a threat to business. Many say the cost of providing health insurance to full time employees is cost prohibitive and will create businesses uncertainty as well as cost jobs. Some companies have even gone as far as laying off workers or reducing worker hours to the minimal amount possible, to avoid making them eligible for full time status.
The Urban Institute, a group that conducts independent research for health policy issued a study entitled “Implications of the Affordable Care Act for American Business.” The study found that the ACA would have “a negligible impact on total employer-sponsored coverage and its costs.” They also concluded that only mid-size businesses (those with 101-1000 employees) would have higher costs, largely because those employers are not presently offering coverage.
Overall, the study does not support critics’ arguments that Obamacare will burden employers and undermine employer-sponsored health insurance. On the contrary, except for a cost increase to mid-size employers due largely to enrollment increases, the ACA benefits small employers who want to provide health insurance, while leaving the overall costs of employer-sponsored health insurance largely unchanged, benefiting private along with public purchasers of health insurance.
Read More: Urban.org