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HOW AREA EMPLOYERS ARE HANDLING THE AFFORDABLE CARE ACT

By Nora Catey

THE AFFORDABLE CARE ACT will not change everyone's health insurance coverage, but it will likely alter how some businesses offer insurance to their employees, and how individuals shop for insurance Industry experts say there are some misconceptions about the ACA, familiarly known as Obamacare. Still, small business owners, workers with families, and independent contractors are all faced with challenges due to the new law, but many are determined to figure out the new changes.

QUESTIONABLE COVERAGE The 2010 law was reportedly intended to help uninsured individuals buy insurance, but some adults say they already have insurance, and the new law is not going to help them. Michael R. Davis is an attorney in private practice. He started his firm, MRDLaw, in 2012 after working for the federal government, including the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. He currently has a health savings account and a high deductible plan.

"What the health savings account does is force people to be smarter consumers of health care," he says. "When I had a Cadillac plan with a $10 copay, I didn't care about prices. Now I have to pay a $5,000 deductible, so before I go to the dentist and he wants to do a procedure, I ask how much will this cost."

Davis pays $199 a month for his plan, which his insurer confirmed will not be available for renewal in 2015. He knows he will have to pay more for insurance and worries that with Obamacare his premiums will increase to subsidize heavy users of the health-care system.

"I don't want to pay $600 a month for people who make bad decisions," he says, adding he also has no interest in surfing the healthcare.gov website, which, famously, had troubles during its launch last year. "I am not going to shop on the exchange. I am not going the waiting in line. I would rather pay the fine."

David Kikumoto, CEO of management consulting and insurance brokerage firm Denver Management Advisors Inc., says Davis is indeed a discerning consumer. "He has the right mix of risk protection and health savings," Kikumoto says. "He will easily be able to navigate this uncertainty."

Part of the uncertainty lies in the exchanges, or online marketplaces the federal and state governments set up to enable people to shop for health insurance. The exchanges were supposed to mimic travel websites where consumers could compare features and prices. However, health-care consumers have...