l****z
发帖数: 29846 | 1 By LOUISE RADNOFSKY
Employers in the retail and restaurant industries are more likely than other
companies to drop their health plans or cut workers' hours when new health-
law requirements take effect in 2014, according to new data from the
consulting firm Mercer.
A Wall Street Journal article last week said retail and restaurant
franchisees were bracing for higher costs as part of the law, and several
said they planned to change workers' health benefits.
The chief executive of the Papa John's International PZZA -0.08% pizza chain
, John Schnatter, said this week that the law's requirements for employers
would add 11 cents to 14 cents to the cost of a pizza. Mr. Schnatter is a
supporter of Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, who has pledged
to repeal the law signed by President Barack Obama.
According to a Mercer survey of 1,203 employers released Wednesday, about 9%
of retail and hospitality employers were planning to drop their existing
health plans once new insurance exchanges are set up in 2014, compared with
6% of companies across all sectors.
The survey also found that retail employers who don't currently offer
coverage were more likely to consider cutting employees' hours to avoid
requirements of the law. The law says that employers with 50 or more full-
time workers—defined as those working at least 30 hours a week—must offer
qualifying health-insurance coverage. If they fail to do so and at least one
of the workers turns to government subsidies to buy coverage, the employers
must pay a penalty.
Many retail employers are close enough to the 50-worker threshold that it
might make financial sense to cut hours and avoid the penalties for not
offering coverage. Manufacturing employers, by contrast, were more likely to
say that they would create new health plans or expand existing plans to
respond to the law.
Mercer found that about 46% of restaurant and retail companies said they
would have to change in some way once the law comes into effect, compared
with 16% of financial-services companies.
McDonald's Corp. Chief Financial Officer Peter Bensen said in an earnings
call two weeks ago that each restaurant will incur between $10,000 and $30,
000 in added annual costs because of provisions in the law. | P*********0
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【在 l****z 的大作中提到】
: By LOUISE RADNOFSKY
: Employers in the retail and restaurant industries are more likely than other
: companies to drop their health plans or cut workers' hours when new health-
: law requirements take effect in 2014, according to new data from the
: consulting firm Mercer.
: A Wall Street Journal article last week said retail and restaurant
: franchisees were bracing for higher costs as part of the law, and several
: said they planned to change workers' health benefits.
: The chief executive of the Papa John's International PZZA -0.08% pizza chain
: , John Schnatter, said this week that the law's requirements for employers
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