Nearly one in 10 employers to drop health coverage
Supporters of President Obama’s health care law celebrate June 28, 2012 outside
About
one in 10 employers plan to drop health coverage when key provisions of
the new health care law kick in less than two years from now, according
to a survey to be released Tuesday by the consulting company Deloitte.
Nine percent of companies said they expect to stop offering coverage to their workers in the next one to three years, the Wall Street Journal reported. Around 81 percent said they would continue providing benefits and 10 percent said they weren't sure.
The companies, though, said a lot will depend on how future provisions of the law unfold, since most of the key parts are scheduled to take effect in 2014. One in three respondents said they could stop offering coverage if the law requires them to provide more generous benefits than they do now, if a tax on high-cost plans takes effect in 2018 as scheduled or if they decide it would be cheaper for them to pay the penalty for not providing insurance.
While small business don't face fines for failing to offer coverage, companies with 50 or more full time employees face a penalty starting at $2,000 per worker.
Deloitte conducted the study between February and April — before the Supreme Court upheld most of the law — and surveyed corporate and human-resources executives from 560 companies currently offering benefits.
In contrast, the Congressional Budget Office has estimated that around seven percent of workers could lose coverage under the law by 2019.
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How would you like to have your pay determined by a raffle?
Cash-strapped Argentine town pays employees by raffle
Pueyo said the raffle was approved by national mayoral authorities and the first draw took place Friday, with 23 of the town's 92 employees receiving their pay. A second raffle is slated for Monday.
Home to 5,000 inhabitants, Bialet Masse is a tourist destination in Cordoba Province, 750 kilometers (466 miles) northwest of Buenos Aires.
Pueyo attributed the city's insufficient funds to a drop in the funding usually received from the provincial government.
Several Argentine provinces have faced economic difficulties due to the nation's slowed economic growth.
Growth slowed by half of one percent in May compared with the same period last year, marking the first downturn since 2009, according to official figures.
Argentina's GDP has grown by an average eight percent per year since 2003, but analysts expect the economy will grow by less than half that in 2012.
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Nine percent of companies said they expect to stop offering coverage to their workers in the next one to three years, the Wall Street Journal reported. Around 81 percent said they would continue providing benefits and 10 percent said they weren't sure.
The companies, though, said a lot will depend on how future provisions of the law unfold, since most of the key parts are scheduled to take effect in 2014. One in three respondents said they could stop offering coverage if the law requires them to provide more generous benefits than they do now, if a tax on high-cost plans takes effect in 2018 as scheduled or if they decide it would be cheaper for them to pay the penalty for not providing insurance.
While small business don't face fines for failing to offer coverage, companies with 50 or more full time employees face a penalty starting at $2,000 per worker.
Deloitte conducted the study between February and April — before the Supreme Court upheld most of the law — and surveyed corporate and human-resources executives from 560 companies currently offering benefits.
In contrast, the Congressional Budget Office has estimated that around seven percent of workers could lose coverage under the law by 2019.
******************************************************************************
How would you like to have your pay determined by a raffle?
Cash-strapped Argentine town pays employees by raffle
A
raffle will determine which civil servants in a small Argentine town
will receive their pay first, due to insufficient funds, its mayor
announced Monday.
"We will draw lots to decide the (order) of payment," said mayor of
Bialet Masse, Gustavo Pueyo, in a broadcast from Buenos Aires private
radio station Radio Mitre.Pueyo said the raffle was approved by national mayoral authorities and the first draw took place Friday, with 23 of the town's 92 employees receiving their pay. A second raffle is slated for Monday.
Home to 5,000 inhabitants, Bialet Masse is a tourist destination in Cordoba Province, 750 kilometers (466 miles) northwest of Buenos Aires.
Pueyo attributed the city's insufficient funds to a drop in the funding usually received from the provincial government.
Several Argentine provinces have faced economic difficulties due to the nation's slowed economic growth.
Growth slowed by half of one percent in May compared with the same period last year, marking the first downturn since 2009, according to official figures.
Argentina's GDP has grown by an average eight percent per year since 2003, but analysts expect the economy will grow by less than half that in 2012.
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