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Employers plan to keep health plans: Study

Posted On: Jul. 29, 2012 12:00 AM CST

Most employers intend to keep offering health care plans to their employees, according to a new survey.

Eighty-one percent of the 560 employers surveyed by Deloitte L.L.P said they intend to continue offering coverage over the next one to three years, while 10% anticipate dropping health coverage and 9% weren't sure.

“Employers offer health benefits to attract and retain employees and sustain job satisfaction,” Deloitte noted last week as the major reason why employers plan to offer health coverage to their workers.

The findings are similar to those last month from the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans, which found that 85% of respondents said they definitely would or were very likely to continue coverage. Larger employers, though, are more likely to do so, according to the Deloitte survey.

While 13% of employers with 50 to 100 employees anticipate dropping coverage in the next one to three years, just 1% of employers with 1,000 to 2,499 employees and 2% of employers with at least 2,500 employees anticipate dropping coverage.