87% of Employers to Reduce Benefits if Health Care Reform Increases Costs

Will The MSM Notice?

A Towers Perrin Survey came across the Business Wire on Reuters this morning stating that a majority of employers surveyed will reduce benefits resulting from the proposed Democrat Health Care Reform bill that is working its way through Congress if it increases costs.

Employers say they will not absorb any additional costs that result from reform and plan to take actions to avoid doing so, including reducing benefits, raising prices for customers and/or reducing head count.

The survey of 443 HR and benefit executives found that 87% of those surveyed would reduce benefits, 38% were likely to pass the increase off to consumers, 30% would absorb the costs by cutting staff and 27% would reduce salaries and compensation as a counter measure. Somehow we are supposed to believe the 11% of executives that claim their companies will absorb the loss.

What about the possibility of accepting the proposed penalty for eliminating health care coverage altogether and forcing employees onto the government plan?

Among the full survey group, employers expect they would respond to a pay-or-play mandate in the following ways:

• 37% of employers would provide company-sponsored health coverage that substantially exceeds the standard.
• 29% of employers would discontinue company-sponsored health coverage and pay the assessment if the per-employee costs of payments to the federal government were substantially lower than their current costs.
• 26% of employers would provide company-sponsored health coverage at the level of the minimum standard required.

Take note of that "minimum standard required". This could certainly result in a reduction of coverage for those fortunate enough not to have been kicked out of their plans altogether. You will be stretched to find this statement mentioned by the mainstream media unless accompanied by the phrase "according to racist right wing radicals". 

There is no word as to how racisist Towers Perrin is for doing such a survey.

Update: I changed the intro paragraph to specifically reflect the accompanying graphic becuase it is plausible that a company could reduce benefits and absorb some costs at the same time.