More corporations announce tax impact of health law

Verizon Communications, Inc. announced Thursday "it will record a related $970 million non-cash charge in the first quarter," The Associated Press reports. "So far at least 15 companies have disclosed about $2.8 billion in charges prompted by the health care overhaul. Verizon's charge is the second-largest after AT&T, which last week announced a $1 billion charge related to the tax bill. Verizon and other companies currently receive a government subsidy to keep prescription drug benefits for retirees. They've been able to deduct all of their expenses, but that ends in 2013 under the recently passed legislation" (4/1). 

Las Vegas Sun/Associated Press: "On Friday, 3M Co. said it will also take a charge of $85 million to $90 million… AT&T also said Friday that it is looking into changing the health care benefits it offers because of the new law. Analysts say retirees could lose the prescription drug coverage provided by their former employers as a result of the overhaul. Changes to benefits are unlikely to take effect immediately. Rather, the issue would most likely come up as part of contract negotiations between the company and unions representing its employees and retirees. AT&T is the largest private employer of union workers in the U.S" (4/2).

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This article was reprinted from khn.org with permission from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. Kaiser Health News, an editorially independent news service, is a program of the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonpartisan health care policy research organization unaffiliated with Kaiser Permanente.