Report: Healthcare law will boost employer coverage

{mosads}The foundation goes on to argue that the healthcare reform law will cause a nearly 10 percent jump in the number of small businesses that offer coverage. The law establishes state-based marketplaces for small businesses to buy insurance and provides tax credits for health insurance, though small-business groups have said the tax credits won’t make much of a difference.

Employer-based coverage has been a major point of contention over the past two weeks, fueled by a controversial report from the consulting firm McKinsey & Co.

That report said some 30 percent of businesses would quit offering healthcare benefits because of the new law’s mandates. But McKinsey said Monday that its survey wasn’t making predictions about the future of employer-based coverage. The survey was simply a gauge of employers’ attitudes, the firm said.