On the surface, it might appear that a recent extension of the deadline for large employers to comply with providing health insurance under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act from 2014 to 2015, is a cause for relief. But some are not so sure.

Credit Union Exchange Blueprint, a Birmingham, Ala.-based private exchange for credit unions and members that provides online access to insurance carriers, said it believes the decision to extend the compliance deadline for providing health insurance coverage to employees will cause more companies to drop their group coverage and send staffers to the individual market.

EPL, the company in Birmingham, Ala., that provides the technology behind CUEB, said large employers will also hurt many of their employees by offering coverage, but they've been stuck between a rock and a hard place since they faced severe penalties of $2,000 per full-time worker if they failed to provide coverage.