Now that they’ve eliminated the mandate for individuals to buy health insurancecoverage, Republicans have set their sights on a new target: themandate for employers.

The New York Times reports that employers are cheering on the GOP effort toeliminate the employer mandate in the Affordable Care Act. Reporting rules, as well as the law’s numerousother requirements, have set it firmly in thecrosshairs of employers anxious to get out from under what they seeas an onerous obligation.

Not that they all satisfied that obligation anyway; the reportsays that since October, the IRS has notified thousands ofbusinesses that they’re subject to financial penalties for failingto satisfy the requirement to offer coverage in 2015, when theemployer mandate took effect.

A bill has already been introduced by Republican representativesDevin Nunes of California and Mike Kelly of Pennsylvania, thatwould suspend the mandate as well as cancel any penalties from 2015through 2018.

While party leaders are cheering them on, the picture might notbe all that rosy if it comes to pass—certainly not for the federalgovernment, which could end up costing the government more to coverthose who might lose insurance through their employers and befinancially unable to pay for a policy on their own. They’re stilleligible for financial aid in the form of tax credits, says thereport, and those credits will be coming out of the government’scoffers. The employer mandate—as well as the now-defunct individualmandate—helped keep costs down, the former for the government ontax credits and the latter on the cost of premiums.

Employers chafe at the reporting requirements, but those whofailed to provide health coverage could find themselves facingbillions in penalties. An estimate from the Congressional BudgetOffice projects says that employers will pay more than $12 billionjust this year, with costs to rise above $200 billion over the nextdecade.

While a report from the Republican members of the House Ways andMeans Committee says that the mandate “interferes withmarket-driven compensation arrangements, encourages employers tocut hours and employees, and stifles new job creation,” Democratsnaturally disagree. They point to all the jobs created since theACA was signed in 2010, as well as saying that neither employment,hours of work or wages have been harmed.

The only action both parties agree on is the need to repeal theso-called Cadillac Tax, which imposes a tax on high-costemployer-sponsored health insurance.