Large employers see scenarios under which they could move workers and retirees to exchanges

Large employers are thinking about how they might use the health insurance exchanges created by the Affordable Care Act. In the short term, from 2014 to 2016, many of these employers are giving serious consideration to using the exchanges to help provide coverage for part-time workers and for retirees not yet eligible for Medicare. In the long term, beginning in 2017, some large employers are considering using the exchanges to provide coverage for all of their employees. Costs, human resources strategies, and competitive pressures, as well as state and federal policy, will be the likely drivers of large employers' decisions about whether-and how-to use the exchanges.