The bulk of PPACA’S provisions take effect in 2014 causes the question of whether or not large and small employers will cease to provide healthcare coverage to their employees. The Obama administration and the Congressional Budget Office say not too many will, but numerous studies, papers, briefs, reports, employer questionnaires, surveys and comments from other prominent Democrats suggest that at least a few more employers than official projections indicate may drop their coverage.

The Kaiser Family Foundation released a report estimating the impact the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act’s (PPACA) medical loss ratio (MLR) provisions will have on health insurance consumers this year in the form of premium rebate checks that are supposed to be mailed to health insurance consumers this August. Although $1.3 billion, the total amount of the projected rebates seems large, when you read the fine print, it becomes apparent that these rebates aren’t quite the bonus some have been predicting. Furthermore, the coverage disruptions, loss of agent services, and higher overall premiums caused by both the MLR requirements specifically and PPACA generally, negate any consumer benefit the rebates may provide.