According to a new study by the Urban Institute, small and largebusinesses could benefit from health reform but mid-size companieswill see a jump in health care costs.

Medium-sized businesses—firms that have between 101 and 1,000employees—would have seen a 9.5% jump in their total health carecosts if the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act had beenfully in place this year, the study found.

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The report, prepared by Urban's Health Policy Center, was basedon a simulation of the impact the law would have had on businessesin 2012, had it been fully in effect.

Researchers say small businesses would have seen their costsfall by 1.4%. Firms with more than 1,000 workers would have seen a4.3% increase.

Higher costs stem largely from expanded coverage, the reportsays.

But, researchers note, the study estimates don't include thepotential effects of cost containment initiatives in the PPACA orstrategies available to employers to reduce their costs bymodifying their contributions or benefits.

And despite fears that that health reform will cause employersto drop employer-sponsored coverage, the report says that it willactually do the opposite, increasing the number of Americanscovered by employer-sponsored insurance by 2.7%. Overall, the UrbanInstitute claims, about 4 million more employees would have hadhealth care coverage if the PPACA had been in place this year.

Previous reports have varied on their conclusions about whathealth reform will do to employer-sponsored coverage. An EmployeeBenefits Research Institute report released a couple weeks outfound that employer-sponsored health coverage continues todecline.

The Urban Institute is a nonprofit, nonpartisan policy researchorganization.

This article was originally posted at BenefitsPro.com, a sister siteof Credit Union Times.