The quality and cost of medical services could improve without their participation.
Although the 2010 Affordable Care Act from President Obama promises workers that if they enjoy their health insurance coverage from their employers, they will be able to keep it under the healthcare reforms, there are some in the industry that are now wondering if the system would be more effective and less expensive if employers dropped the coverage that they provide.
The intention of the law is actually to expand the coverage from employers across the country.
However, some are now wondering if the portion of the healthcare reforms that leads to the expansion of the employer sponsored coverage might actually be less effective than if individuals were to seek their own coverage. Many employers seem to be looking in that exact direction, as they consider dropping the health insurance plans for their employees before the January 1, 2014 deadline.
This consequence of the healthcare reforms, which has been framed as negative, may be highly beneficial.
As an increasing number of employers decide that the healthcare reforms are leading them to drop the coverage for their employees, there may actually be a positive outcome that was not initially expected. Individuals and the medical system as a whole might find that the expanded market makes a considerable difference to the quality of care that is available and the lower cost at which it can be provided.
A larger individual market could potentially give Americans who are taking part in the system that has resulted from the healthcare reforms the opportunity to benefit in transparency, cost, and portability of coverage. Forbes reported that this is not directly the result of many people losing the coverage through their employers, but would instead come from taking part in an individual market that is much more robust.
As of yet, the healthcare reforms are stepping into an individual market for health insurance that is just getting started, when compared to the employer sponsored marketplace. Due to high costs, the individual market has been historically underdeveloped. The larger the growth of this area as a result of the Affordable Care Act, the greater the potential for its dramatic improvement.
