How Employer-Mandated Health Insurance Stacks Up

How Employer-Mandated Health Insurance Stacks Up in Group Health Insurance

All the bills currently in play — the house bill and the two in the Senate — contain employer mandates, but differ to what degree. This has provoked a few layers of questions.

The Senate Finance Committee’s bill penalizes employers who don’t offer their workers any kind of coverage, but stops short of making any requirements whereas the bills from the House and the Senate Health Committee flat-out require employers offer their employees coverage. As a matter of fact, they go one step further: They require employers to contribute a significant share of the cost (except for small businesses) or pay a fine. 

That’s a big difference. And it’s hard to tell which way Majority Leader Harry Reid will lean in his reconciliation of the two Senate bills alone. 

Now, it’s true that for about 60 percent of Americans at big firms, the point is moot since they get their health insurance through their jobs, where they are covered at about 75 percent. But it isn’t for those who work at smaller companies where coverage and employer contribution aren’t as considerable. 

It’s also important to note that anywhere from 2.3 to 2.6 million businesses are expected to opt to pay the penalty rather than offer group health insurance should that version of the mandate go into law.

It will be interesting to see which provision ends up in the final bill, and even more interesting to see how it pans out.

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