U.S. House Vote to Stabilize Healthcare Gives Small Businesses Hope

“We are encouraged by the U.S. House of Representatives taking steps to protect the Affordable Care Act (ACA) because America’s small businesses are concerned they may lose their access to quality, affordable healthcare. Entrepreneurs share this concern in light of the Trump administration’s repeated and relentless attempts to destroy our healthcare system because these attacks are costing small business owners money.

The legislative package passed today would help stabilize the marketplaces by banning short-term health insurance plans, providing money for states to establish their own ACA marketplaces and funding the outreach and assistance programs that help customers sign up for healthcare plans through the federal ACA marketplace during the annual open enrollment period. The package also includes a solution to address rising prescription drug prices, which is hurting small businesses’ bottom lines, by bringing generic prescription drugs to market more quickly.

While Congress is trying to strengthen the ACA, the administration has been busy undermining the law. These harmful efforts include expanding short-term healthcare plans and slashing funding for ACA support, which has destabilized the healthcare marketplaces by decreasing the number of enrollees, increasing costs for everyone who remains in the marketplaces. This is particularly damaging to small firms, since more than half of all ACA marketplace enrollees nationwide are small business owners, self-employed individuals or small business employees.

Without congressional attempts to bolster the ACA, costs will continue to rise and many small business owners and their employees will be priced out of the marketplace. If that happens, entrepreneurship in the United States will be badly damaged. After all, business owners and their employees can’t operate a small business if they’re too sick to work. For the good of America’s job creators and the overall health of our economy we must do all we can to support the ACA, and we hope more lawmakers recognize this reality.”