A growing percentage of mid-market employers say rolling back the health care reform law would significantly improve their economic outlook in the coming year, according to a study by Deloitte Development L.L.C.

Forty-one percent of the 525 executives surveyed for Deloitte's “2013 Mid-Market Perspectives” selected a scaled-down of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act as a key step that the U.S. government could take to support midsize companies. That compares with 33% in 2012 and 23% in 2011.

“Rolling back health care reform ranked a very close second to reducing corporate tax rates as the most popular initiative the U.S. government could implement to help middle-market companies grow in the coming year,” the study's authors wrote in the report released Thursday.

“Larger companies appear to be more resigned to implementation of the Affordable Care Act than smaller companies; only 38% of companies with 1,000 to 3,000 employees ranked health care rollback as one of their top two government priorities, while 53% of companies with 50 to 99 employees ranked it as a top priority.”

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According to Deloitte's study, 71% of mid-market companies expect the cost of compliance with the health care reform law to increase in the next 12 months, with 41% expecting a sharp increase, a far higher percentage than for any other regulatory obligation.

Additionally, despite the overall reduction in year-over-year health care cost increases, the percentage of midsize employers citing medical costs among the greatest obstacles to their economic growth has increased substantially during the past two years, to more than 60% in 2013, up from 51% in 2012 and 33% in 2011.

Under the reform law, employers with more than 50 full-time workers — defined as employees working 30 hours or more per week — will be required to offer qualified, affordable group health plans to their employees beginning in 2014 of pay a penalty.

To manage the financial impact of the potential influx of new health plan members, some mid-market companies said they intend to refocus their hiring strategies on part-time, freelance and contract workers. More than one-quarter of employers surveyed said they plan to increase their part-time and contract hiring in 2013 and 2014.

Among those employers, 38% indicated those increases would be directed primarily to address requirements of the health care reform law.