With the employer mandate under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act kicking in next year, many employers are attempting to find ways to cover their full-time employees, while keeping costs down, according to a Wall Street Journal report.
Under the PPACA's employer mandate, employers with 50 to 99 employees are required to provide full-time workers with health coverage by 2016 or face a penalty. However, those with 100 or more employees are required to provide health benefits to at least 70 percent of their full-time employees by 2015.
One option for providing the required coverage that is drawing interest from large employers with low-wage employees is enrolling workers in Medicaid, since no penalty is imposed upon employers if their employees have Medicaid coverage.
However, the Medicaid option is quite controversial because although it helps employers save money the cost burden is shifted to Medicaid and ultimately to tax payers.