CBO Says Administration’s Efforts to Unravel ACA are Raising Healthcare Premiums, Which is Bad for Small Businesses

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) today released a damaging report on the consequences of the Administration’s efforts to undermine the Affordable Care Act, which is causing so much instability in the healthcare marketplaces that premiums are estimated to increase by 15 percent for 2018. Since millions of small business owners, self-employed and small business employees depend on the ACA marketplaces for quality, affordable healthcare, this completely preventable rise in rates will negatively impact the bottom lines of countless entrepreneurs.

The CBO report said much of this uncertainty is due to President Trump’s refusal to guarantee federal cost-sharing subsidies that lower the deductibles and co-pays for the ACA’s low-income enrollees. What the president does not recognize is small businesses nationwide depend on provisions of the ACA for health insurance coverage, which is why a bipartisan solution must be found that strengthens the law rather than undermining it. Small employers implore President Trump to guarantee federal cost-sharing payments, which will help stabilize the marketplaces and ensure America’s job creators have access to the health coverage they need at an affordable price.