Health care issues: Coverage responsibility for employers

Health care issues: Coverage by employers

A look at key issues in the health care debate:

THE ISSUE: Should employers be required to either provide health coverage for their workers or pay a penalty?

THE POLITICS: Millions of Americans obtain health insurance through their workplaces. But requiring all employers to offer coverage has long been a nonstarter for the business community and its Republican allies because of the financial burden it would impose. Key Democrats in Congress are pushing for an employer mandate, and say employers who don’t provide insurance should pay a penalty into a fund for the uninsured. Businesses say the cost of insurance plans would cause them to shed jobs, an unappealing prospect as the recession zaps Main Street. One proposed option would delay the mandate until the economy recovers, thus preserving a way to raise money for health care overhaul. The nation’s largest private employer, Walmart, broke with the position of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other business groups and announced support for an employer mandate.

WHAT IT MEANS: Businesses would be required to offer coverage to their employees. This would eliminate the need for millions of Americans to fend for themselves in the world of costly premiums when they don’t get insurance through work. Small companies would be exempted, based either on the size of their payroll or their work force; one Democratic proposal sets the definition of a small company at 25 or fewer employees. Some small employers might receive federal subsidies to help them provide insurance. Businesses that didn’t offer coverage would have to pay a penalty.

—Rita Beamish