Fair Share Update

There is a lot of talk lately about whether all the parties that agreed to support the state's health coverage law are doing their fair share. This is an update on the employers' share; in particular, the penalty that some employers who don't offer coverage must pay.

You might remember that the state requires companies with 11 or more workers to make a "fair and reasonable contribution(pg 3)" to employee health coverage. The legislature initially expected to raise 48 million dollars in fines. That estimated was revised (down) several times. The first round of fines collected late last year raised 5 million. As of late March, the total was up to 6.6 million. Here's the second notice and a sample bill the state sent last month to 4, 582 companies that have still not submitted information about their insurance coverage.

Business groups say employers are doing more than their fair share by adding more than 111,000 new workers in company health plans in 2007. They say that many employers who don't offer coverage can't afford to do so and that now is not the time to increase business costs.