Obamacare Delay May Save Some Jobs, But Employers Still Fear Implementation

The policy still hangs like a wet blanket

Enjoy it while it lasts.

The dramatic decision by the Obama administration to postpone until 2015 a requirement that larger businesses offer health insurance may prompt some employers to hold off shedding staff or cutting workers hours for now, but experts don't expect to see a big hiring boom because of the unexpected one-year delay, despite the thrilled reaction by some business leaders.

"If it's only a one-year delay, does that change employers' behavior or not?" asked Chuck Clapton, partner in the law firm Hogan Lovells, who specializes in health care.

"Is that enough of an incentive to hire people I otherwise wasn't going to hire? My guess is, it probably does not change the dynamic," Clapton said. "It's not like we're saying we're going to get rid of the employer mandate."