Published: Tuesday, April 13, 2010 in The Whitworthian as part of a package on how health care reform will affect student life.

While President Obama’s health care reform won’t directly affect businesses, it does carry implications for employee benefits which may be of interest to students looking for work in the coming years.

John Sporleder, a human resources consultant and president of Sporleder Human Capital, said that many employers struggle with the cost of providing insurance for employees. If they are able to save money by not offering insurance, he said, employers may opt to let their personnel fend for themselves with the public option.

Whitworth employees can rest easy for now. Although insurance premiums may go up over the next year, it won’t be due to health care reform, said Rick Scott, associate director of human resource services.

Scott said that Whitworth has no solid plan of action for changes in polices due to the passage of health care reform.

“It’s wait and see at this point,” he said.

Whitworth insures its employees through Group Health. Group Health has been slowly sharing information on the effects of the bill’s passage with Whitworth as details are uncovered.

“We hear bits and pieces at a time. It’s an ongoing process. As they figure things out, we hear things,” Scott said.

Due to the lack of hard information on the effects of health care reform, Whitworth employees will not be charged more for their insurance due to Mr. Obama’s bill.

“Premiums may go up, but it’s not because of the reform,” Scott said.

At this point, business owners are not anticipating immediate changes. However, the future is uncertain.