Will some drop plans?: Analysts say new rules will lead to big employers discontinuing insurance

(By Richard Craver, Winston-Salem Journal) - It will take four years for most of the impact of health-care reform to be felt by local employers.

However, analysts wasted little time yesterday weighing in with their perspectives.

Some say there will be little noticeable change because the bulk of employers in North Carolina have fewer than 50 workers and would not be affected.

Others say that the bill will accelerate the pace of medium- to large-size employers dropping health coverage, which would require their workers to participate in an insurance exchange subsidized by the federal government and operated by state governments.