The Future of Employee Benefits
Under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), any organization with over 50 employees are now required to provide health insurance to at least 95% of their workforce, or they will be investigated and fined. The ACA also prevents insurers from discriminating against people based on their pre-existing health conditions, which means that many employees should benefit from health insurance than ever before. Smaller organizations are also encouraged to offer health insurance by having access to reduced rates to provide employee health benefits too.
This is great news for employees who already work hard for a living and deserve to be rewarded. Children under the age of 26 can be added to their parent's health policy which provides further security to working families. Previously the largest demographic of uninsured people was young adults because they were either not covered by their employer's plans for were not eligible for other coverage and luckily Trump is keen to keep this as part of the new proposed bill so that employees will retain this benefit. Of course, these employee benefits are not free, and employers are required to foot the bill by law, which is driving up the cost and drives the administration to make other changes to the current legislation.
It can be argued that the proposed GOP Bill could prove to be very detrimental to the employees earning the lowest incomes. Under the new bill, employers will not be required to supply their employees with healthcare, which reduces the cost for America's businesses and transfers them to the working class. However, Trump's administration is likely to be keen on increasing Health Savings Account (HSA) provisions to give employees better control over their healthcare.
This is great news for employees in well-paid jobs who have the disposable income to contribute towards HSAs, but for the lowest paid workers in society, they're still not getting a great deal. If throughout their working life they've struggled to put money towards an HSA, they're not likely to receive much financial support with regards to healthcare costs during retired life under the GOP Bill. In a nutshell, if someone hasn't got the disposable income to put money into an HSA, then they're also likely to have less money to pay for your health insurance in the first place struggle to pay it throughout their adult life. 22.5 million people risk losing access to subsidies healthcare through the Medicaid system if the GOP bill goes ahead, which some may find shocking.
By offering an excellent set of benefits, it entices people to take up employment instead contributing little to society at home. The GOP bill intends to reduce some of these benefits and could potentially make health insurance more expensive for everyone, leaving them in a poorer financial position. 150 million people could lose access to affordable healthcare should the Republicans completely upend the ACA. If you currently receive coverage through your employer, then it's worth keeping an eye on the outcome to see how your employee benefits could change in the future.
