While the cost of healthcare has been reportedly rising across the country, many school districts and local governments have struggled to offer the same health insurance coverage to employees without requiring a larger contribution from workers. A recent study from the Urban Institute revealed the cost of health insurance coverage for employers with 50 or fewer employees will likely decrease in the near future, thanks to mandates in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.
According to the study, public and private employers will not have to drop health insurance benefits for their employees in order to maintain the bottom line and balance the budget. With the implementation of the healthcare reform law, the number of Americans covered by employer-sponsored insurance will increase by nearly 3 percent, while the cost for smaller employers to provide coverage will drop by 7.3 percent. Employers with fewer than 100 employees will see total health insurance spending drop 1.4 percent as well.
Many small employers may not have been expecting the healthcare reform law to have such a significant impact on the cost of health insurance coverage. Many have already taken steps to reduce costs elsewhere in the budget to accommodate rising health-related expenses. However, the mandates aim to make coverage for employers more affordable - particularly for small employers, such as local government agencies and public schools.