Long-term care makes ADP's list of industries most challenged by upcoming health benefits requirements

Long-term care makes ADP's list of industries most challenged by upcoming health benefits requiremen

Long-term care is one of seven employment sectors likely to see significant challenges based on health benefits requirements in the Affordable Care Act, according to payroll services provider ADP.

Based on payroll and benefits information of 303 companies with at least 1,000 employees, ADP identified industries where healthcare reform's impact may be “sufficiently large enough to materially affect corporate financial performance.”

Long-term care falls into this category. ADP said these industries feature many part-time employees who will become eligible for health insurance in 2014, and many low-income employees paying a high percentage of their base pay for health insurance.

The report, released Tuesday, provides recommended actions. ADP recommends companies in the high-risk sectors “precisely calculate” how many of their employees pay more than 9.5% of their base pay to cover health premiums, since these employees would trigger employer penalties under the ACA.

ADP also recommended that companies consider providing subsidies of $500-$1,000 to low-income employees to keep the employees' premium contributions below 9.5%.

Employers may also want to encourage wide adoption of company health plans, which is likely to bring the average age of beneficiaries down and reduce costs, according to ADP.