Now that legislation revamping the nation’s health-care system has been signed into law, construction companies and unions are poring over its provisions, trying to determine the impact of its sweeping changes. Some suggest the measure, enacted on March 30, will drive up firms’ premiums. Others are taking a wait-and-see approach. “The devil is always in the details,” says Stuart Binstock, CEO of the Finishing Contractors Association.
Whether the law will produce the benefits its architects hope for isn’t clear, says American Subcontractors Association spokesman David Mendes. “When you’re talking about budget reductions and the costs for the program,” he says, “there is some reason to be skeptical that without some very tight cost controls, the reform may not be as successful as many expect.”