By now, many of us are familiar with “Obamacare” and have heard how Obamacare will cost businesses extra money. The reality is it will possibly save them significant money. If my understanding / interpretation of Obamacare is correct, it requires businesses with over 50 employees to provide health care to its employees. It also states that an employee should not pay more than 9.5% of their gross salary for their insurance coverage. For example, if an employee has a salary of $30,000, he should not have to pay more than $2,850 for family coverage. I do not know of many companies out there that enable employees to have family coverage for $237.50 per month. Most family insurance plans cost companies about $1,000 per month. If the company absorbs 75% of the cost, they are passing 25% to employees, which would be about $250 per month.If an employee has to pay more than 9.5% of their income on insurance, they have the option to purchase insurance on an open exchange. It is very possible that the open exchange will provide cheaper premiums, as you will have millions of people buying insurance, as compared to the hundreds of people a company may employ. The concept of economies of scale are being applied on the open exchange.
Furthermore, if an employee chooses to not participate in his employers insurance plan, due to the 9.5% requirement, and subsequently purchases insurance on the exchange, this could be a cost savings for the employer. The employer will be required to subsidize a portion of his employees purchase, but realistically, this subsidy may prove to be cheaper than what they are already paying. Instead of absorbing the 75% that they currently are, this could end up being reduced. The $1,000 quote that a company receives for family coverage for a company size of 500 employees, may be reduced to a $500 quote for an exchange with millions of insurance seekers.
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