Most Small Businesses Won̢???t be Impacted by Delay in Healthcare Law̢???s Employer Responsibility Requirement
Statement by Terry Gardiner, Vice President, Policy & Strategy of Small Business Majority, about the Obama Administration delaying until 2015 requirements that employers with more than 50 employees offer health insurance to their employees
Washington, DC̢?? The news today that the Obama Administration will delay until 2015 the requirement that employers with more than 50 employees provide insurance does not impact the vast majority of small business owners. Ninety-six percent of businesses in this country have fewer than 50 employees. For these employers nothing changes because they were already exempt from the employer responsibility requirements. For larger businesses with more than 50 employees, 96 percent already offer insurance and we believe will continue to for business reasons. Only the 4 percent of larger employers that do not offer health insurance will be impacted by the delay in the penalty.
The one-year delay in reporting requirements will allow larger businesses time to adjust and provide additional input to the Treasury on how the proposed requirements will work best.
The most important provisions for small business owners in the law are still moving full steam ahead, including health insurance exchanges. The exchanges, coming online on Jan. 1, 2014, will allow small businesses to pool their buying power to help drive down coverage costs. Additionally, small employers that do offer coverage will be eligible for a tax credit of up to 50 percent of their premiums.
<p><strong>About Small Business Majority</strong><br />
Small Business Majority is a national small business advocacy organization, founded and run by small business owners to focus on solving the biggest problems facing America's 28 million small businesses today. Since 2005, we have actively engaged small business owners and policymakers in support of public policy solutions, and have delivered information and resources to entrepreneurs that promote small business growth and drive a strong, sustainable economy. We are a team of more than 30 working from our 11 offices in Washington, D.C. and 9 states, with a network of more than 45,000 small business owners and more than 2,000 business organizations, along with a formal strategic partnership program of more than 125 business organizations, enabling us to reach more than 500,000 entrepreneurs. Our extensive scientific polling, focus groups and economic research help us educate and inform policymakers, the media and other stakeholders about issues including taxes, healthcare, access to capital, entrepreneurship, workforce development, clean energy and immigration. Learn more about us on our website and follow us on <a href="https://twitter.com/SBM_Media" target="_blank">Twitter</a>, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/SmallBusinessMajority" target="_blank">Facebook</a> and <a href="https://instagram.com/smlbizmajority/" target="_blank">Instagram</a>.</p>