Why Some Big Business Leaders May Be Turning Against Obamacare

Some of the nation's most powerful business leaders have been giving Obamacare their tacit support — but now that support may be falling apart.

President Barack Obama delivers remarks at an Organizing for Action 'Obamacare Summit' at the St. Regis Hotel on November 4, 2013 in Washington, D.C. Pool/Getty Images

Outraged by the Obama administration's challenge to "workplace wellness" programs outlined in Obamacare, high-profile business leaders are considering mounting an assault on the Affordable Care Act, Reuters reported early Saturday.

The information about the split between businesses and the government came from "people familiar with the matter."

Under provisions in the 2010 health care reform law, "workplace wellness" programs are designed to incentivize employees to lose weight or quit smoking and generally stay healthy — which can lead to health care cost savings for companies. In turn, employees can be rewarded for participation — but can penalized for non-participation, Reuters said.

But the Obama administration's Equal Employment Opportunity Commission took Honeywell and several smaller companies to court over such wellness programs, and business leaders apparently felt betrayed.

In this Jan. 18, 2011 file photo, the Honeywell Specialty Materials plant is seen in Metropolis, Ill. (AP Photo/The Southern Illinoisan, Steve Jahnke, File)

"The fact that the EEOC sued is shocking to our members," said Maria Ghazal, vice-president and counsel at the Business Roundtable, a group of chief executives of more than 200 large U.S. corporations. "They don't understand why a plan in compliance with the ACA (Affordable Care Act) is the target of a lawsuit."

Ghazal went on to say, "This is a major issue to our members. There have been conversations at the most senior levels of the administration about this." Together the members of the Business Roundtable provide health insurance for roughly 40 million people, Reuters noted.

The lawsuit reportedly claims that certain steps in the process of employee participation, such as health screenings and tests, violate the 1990 Americans With Disabilities Act, which generally rule that such steps aren't required as a condition of employment, Reuters reported.

And while Obamacare says employees can receive financial incentives of up to 50 percent of their monthly premiums, deductibles and other costs for participating in workplace wellness programs, when workers who don't participate can face penalties up to $4,000, or even lose their insurance or their jobs — the wellness program ceases to be voluntary, Reuters added.

Roundtable president John Engler sent a letter to the Labor, Treasury and Health and Human Services cabinet secretaries — who oversee Obamacare — on Nov. 14, asking them to "thwart all future inappropriate actions against employers who are complying with" the law's wellness rules and warning of "a chilling effect across the country."

What could business leaders do if the government keeps pressing on this aspect of workplace wellness programs?

They could lend their support to existing legal challenges against Affordable Care Act subsidies, Reuters noted, or they could go for the "nuclear option": eliminating or radically changing employer-sponsored health insurance, loading down private exchanges with tens of millions of people.

"We never did this before," said the anonymous source who tipped off Reuters. "But [business leaders] could turn up the noise. I don't think the White House would want the CEOs turning on them and supporting these [anti-Obamacare] efforts on the Hill."

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