Firms Feel Pain From Healthcare Law

More uncertainty and scrambling from firms as they prepare to implement the new healthcare law.  The only certain effects are increased costs and administrative burdens, according to this article from Wall Street Journal.

A few takes from the article:

• Companies are hiring more consultants (20% more) to help them sort through the new mandates and enormous volume of paperwork as well as comprehend the 2,400 pages of the document.

• In 2018, a tax kicks in on employers with plans whose costs exceed certain levels.  Firms like software maker SAS Institute Inc are shifting costs to employees in order to get under the threshold.

• An Ernst & Young survey of 381 executives found that 31% of executives are most concerned about compliance with the law, while 16% are most concerned about their preparedness to comply.

Firms must wait in the dark about additional coming changes, as well as their financial and cultural implications, while regulators continue to shape other aspects of the law.

We predict more firms choosing staffing companies to ease the burden of these new administrative- and healthcare-associated costs.

Do you think firms are prepared to handle the new health law? Do you think these changes are for the better, or worse?