Study: Employer Mandate Will Have Little Effect on Overall ACA Implementation

According to a new RAND Corporation study, the one-year delay to the health law’s employer mandate will have little effect on the ultimate results of the Affordable Care Act. Less than one percent of large firms will not offer health insurance in 2014 as a result of the delay. But the delay will set the federal government back $11 billion — missed revenue from penalties and fines large employers would have had to pay next year. The study shows the delay will have a minimal impact largely because over 95 percent of firms with more than 50 employees already offer employer-sponsored health insurance plans.