Small firms say they are curtailing plans for hiring and expansion amid rising insurance bills.

Kathleen Sebelius, the secretary of health and human services, said Thursday that employers should immediately offer or continue health insurance coverage for workers’ children up to the age of 26, at little or no additional cost.

About one-third of employers subject to major requirements of the new health care law may face tax penalties because they offer health insurance that could be considered unaffordable to some employees, a new study says.

The share of Americans who get health coverage through their jobs has been declining gradually for years, dropping to 63.3% of working-age adults in 2008. The question now is whether the new health law will accelerate that trend, and induce more employers and workers to turn to government coverage options.

Out-of-pocket costs for the millions of Americans with employer-based health coverage rose again in the past year, although at a slower pace than the year before, according to a new industry report released Tuesday.

Opinion by The Chicago Tribune

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The health-care reform law may push employer-provided health insurance out of financial reach for some people. One of the unintended consequences of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act recently pushed through Congress is that 38% of the nation's employers may find that they have some unable to afford their health care.

Editorial by the Wall Street Journal

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Most big employers plan to shift a larger share of health-care costs to their workers next year, according to a survey to be released Thursday.