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New Obamacare effect: working spouses taken off UPS health plans

August 21, 2013, 3:29 PM

By Russ Britt

Still not much to report in the health-care markets, so let’s focus on another story, this one from Kaiser Health News:
that United Parcel Service Inc. is blaming President Obama’s health-care overhaul for eliminating coverage for 15,000 working spouses of its employees.
The move is expected to save the package delivery service specialist about $60 million a year, and the policy applies only to non-union U.S. workers. It’s part of a trend that some companies are following in order to cut back on medical expenses.
Kaiser Health News’s story, done in conjunction with USA Today, cites a survey by Towers Watson, which says 4% of large employers planned to exclude spouses from coverage if their own employers offered health insurance. Another 8% planned to make such a change next year, when major provisions of Obamacare start to take effect.
Some companies are following similar paths to UPS. There are those who are either paying bonuses to employees who take already-covered spouses off their plan, while others charge penalties to those who don’t. Look for other major employers to consider the move in the near future