The survey found that 9% of offering firms with at least 50 workers said that the elimination of the individual mandate penalty led to fewer workers and dependents enrolling in a health-care plan this year.
The ACA also included a tax on high-cost health plans, sometimes called the “Cadillac tax,” that was originally set to take effect in 2018. However, Congress delayed the tax until 2022, and the House recently voted to repeal it all together.
The survey found that only 15% of offering employers with at least 50 workers say they expect the tax to take effect in 2022. One-third of those firms say the upcoming tax was either “very” or “somewhat” important in making their health benefit decisions for the current year.
“The single biggest issue in health care for most Americans is that their health costs are growing much faster than their wages are,” said KFF President and CEO Drew Altman. “Costs are prohibitive when workers making $25,000 a year have to shell out $7,000 a year just for their share of family premiums.”
The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, headquartered in San Francisco, is a nonprofit organization that focuses on major health care issues facing the nation, as well as the U.S. role in global health policy.