More U.S. small businesses plan for employee health coverage: survey

The number of U.S. small businesses planning to start to offer health coverage for their employees next year slightly exceeds the number that expect to drop coverage, even as costs continue to rise, according to a survey released on Thursday. The survey by the National Federation of Independent Business, a trade organization, was designed as the first of a three-year look at how small businesses are adapting to President Barack Obama's healthcare law. Many of the Affordable Care Act's important regulations begin next year, although a requirement that employers with at least 50 workers supply health coverage was delayed until 2015. If employers follow through on their plans for next year, "the net proportion of them offering (health insurance) would rise, breaking a decade-old trend," said the report, which surveyed 921 businesses, with from two to 100 employees.



via Health News Headlines - Yahoo! News http://news.yahoo.com/more-u-small-businesses-plan-employee-health-coverage-194636654--sector.html