Businesses welcome enforcement delay for the health overhaul's employer mandate

Politico: Businesses Cheer Employer Mandate Delay
Under a decision released by the Treasury Department on Tuesday, large employers won't be penalized until 2015 - and not next year - for failing to offer coverage to full-time workers. The delay will have less of an effect on small businesses with fewer than 50 employees, who face new reporting requirements under the law but don't have to offer coverage (Cunningham, 7/2).

USA Today: Businesses React To Health Care Act Delay
Reaction marked a divide between representatives of big business, who mostly provide insurance already and were focused on complying with complex new reporting rules, and representatives of small business who said they need much bigger changes (Mullaney, 7/2).

Kaiser Health News: Business Groups, Consumer Advocates, Politicians, Policy Makers React To Mandate Decision
Opponents of the federal health law, especially business groups and conservatives, were quick to praise the decision by the Obama administration to delay enforcing the employer mandate provision by one year, until 2015. Some supporters of the law said the decision would not create major problems. Here is a roundup of some of the statements and edited quotes from interviews within the first few hours of the announcement (Galewitz, 7/2).