Health insurance marketplaces, being set up under the new healthcare law, will be implemented on Oct. 1. Despite the law being more than 3 years old, anything surrounding it, including these insurance marketplaces–the most important provision for small business owners–remains a hotbed of controversy and confusion for many small business owners. Enter Small Business Majority – the leading organization in the nation in terms of educating small business owners about the Affordable Care Act and these new health exchanges.

Small Business Majority is going to great lengths to help inform small business owners about the exchanges and everything in the law that impacts them. We’ve made a website dedicated to educating small businesses about how to get coverage and all things Affordable Care Act, and translated the entire guide into Spanish. In addition, we’re setting up websites with state specific information on the insurance exchanges, holding countless seminars educating small businesses about the law, and have been meeting with state and federal politicians such as Deputy Secretary of Health and Human Services Bill Corr to discuss the law’s impact on small firms.

We are the No. 1 authority on the impact the Affordable Care Act will have on small businesses as evidenced by our infographic above that details resources and tools for all small business owners to access their state’s exchange program. Our primary mission is to prepare each and every entrepreneur for implementation of this law. That way, instead of worrying about health insurance, they can do what they do best: run the companies that make up the backbone of our nation.

What We’ve Been Up To

For several months leading up to the October 1 deadline, Small Business Majority has held and will continue to hold in-person outreach events and webinars to educate small businesses on the new law. Here are some of the highlights from our busy summer:

• We have sponsored a total of 125 events regarding the health exchange program
• 70 out of the 125 events have been webinars.  43 out of the 70 have been state-specific, while 27 have been national webinars part of our “ACA 101” series and our jointly sponsored webinars with the Small Business Administration.
• 20 of these webinars are upcoming, including continued “ACA 101″ and SBA series, as well as state-specific webinars for small business owners in California, Colorado, Oregon, Illinois, Connecticut and New Hampshire.
• 55 out of the 125 events have been in-person outreach events in California, Colorado, Illinois, Michigan, Missouri and North Carolina.
• 10 of those 55 are upcoming events to be held in either California or Colorado.
• In addition to those events, Small Business Majority took a group of 16 small business owners on our 2nd Annual Network Council Trip where meetings were held with Bill Corr of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand where the Family Medical Leave Act was discussed, and many other politicians during our White House visit.
• To get the full, comprehensive list of all of our events regarding the health exchange, please visit our events calendar.
• Created a comprehensive health coverage guide and translated it into Spanish.
• Held a national press call with journalists to educate them about the insurance exchange opening.
• Conducted state seminars during the final lead-up to the health exchange openings to assist and educate small business owners and the media.
• Created health insurance fact sheets for African-American, Hispanic, LGBT, Self-Employed, Women and Youth small business owners to prepare them for the health exchange openings and convince them why the law is important for their business.
• Created host of infographics for small business owners nationwide and in key states educating them about the law. In addition to our national graphic, we have state specific graphics for California, Colorado, Missouri, New York, Ohio, Oregon and Virginia.