Poll: Employers say striking entire health law is best outcome

Most American employers believe that a Supreme Court decision rejecting the entire healthcare law would be the best option for their finances, a new poll finds.

Fifty-eight percent of those surveyed believe a ruling voiding the law would best bolster their bottom line. But 66 percent believe the high court will only throw out the individual mandate to buy health insurance, keeping other parts of the law intact.

{mosads}The survey, from the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans, comes as the court’s decision draws near. Opinions will be issued by the end of June, leaving plenty of time for the aftermath to affect the November elections.

Small businesses were most likely to say that a decision throwing out the entire law would be the best them financially. 

Sixty-six percent of groups with 50 or fewer employees selected that outcome as the most favorable, compared to 46 percent of those with between 500 and 999 employees.

The survey also found that the scenario employers see as most likely — an end to the mandate, but not the entire law — is also the one that would be the toughest on their books.

Only 14 percent of employers polled said that that possibility would have the best financial impact on their organizations. Twenty-seven percent, meanwhile, said a decision upholding the entire law would be best, financially.

Those who believe that the court would uphold the whole law, or strike down the whole law, were almost equal — 19 percent to 15.

In a statement, the International Foundation acknowledged that “reaching a consensus on the Affordable Care Act among our members would be difficult” but that improving the American healthcare system is vital.

“It’s clear that our members agree that steps must be taken to address the access to quality, affordable healthcare in America,” said Michael Wilson, the group’s CEO.

The survey also polled to find out which provisions of the healthcare law are most popular with workers and found that allowing children to remain on their parents’ healthcare plans until age 26 led the pack, with 59 percent support.

The next most popular component, named by 34 percent of respondents, was the elimination of pre-existing condition exclusions from insurers.