Cost-Containment

Among other findings, Aetna said just 33 percent of respondents reported that their employers offer flexible work hours.

It's all about the difference between subsidized insurance and the cost of higher-priced options available on the various public exchanges.

The ugly figures will reflect the government's partial shutdown, which coincided with 16 days in October. The trends for the job market will likely reverse themselves in coming months.

As it turns out, policy cancellations will affect less than 4 percent of Americans those who buy individual health insurance directly, rather than the 80 percent who get it from their jobs or government programs, or the 15 percent who have no health insurance at all.

The move to unionize at campuses from Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., to Tufts University near Boston follows a shift in hiring practices at colleges that rely more than ever on adjunct faculty to teach classes.

Paying for employee health insurance, and managing the effects on their business of the act, rank as the top two concerns in an ADP study of more than 1,000 businesses with between 50 and 999 employees.