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Bait and Switch? by Rick Murray, Chief Executive Officer, ASBA Whether you are for or against the provisions in the Affordable Care Act (ACA),
About ASBA
the latest news seems to make an already confusing situation even more confusing.
The Arizona Small Business Association (ASBA) is the largest trade association
One of the key selling points for the Affordable Care Act—a provision that
in the state representing 11,000+
helps small businesses provide multiple health plan options for their
member businesses and over 1/2 million
employees—will be delayed until 2015.
employees in all 15 counties. ASBA members enjoy access to significant group discounts, countless opportunities to do business with each other, a wide array of insurance products, and active advocacy efforts on public policy issues to protect their businesses. Discover more at www.asba.com. Join ASBA. Be amAZed®
In January 2014, the administration was expected to launch an insurance marketplace that would give small businesses a way to offer employees a choice of health plans. However, citing “operational challenges,” it was announced recently that implementation of that part of the ACA would be delayed in the 33 states where the federal government plans to run healthcare exchanges, which includes Arizona. One of the major reasons the Affordable Care Act (ACA) passed was because the bill was designed to give more options to small businesses and help them keep the cost of providing health insurance to employees under control. Under the bill, each state must offer a Small Business Health Options Program, or SHOP exchange, to give employers a way to compare plan options for their employees.
in this issue Can Your Business Afford a $9 Minimum Wage? . . . . . . . . . . pg. 2 How to Celebrate Small Business Month . . . . . . . . . . . . . . pg. 4 Help Available for Arizona’s Small Businesses to Improve Employee Health and their Bottom Line . . . . pg. 7
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Even those who widely supported the Affordable Care Act were taken by surprise. The delay will prolong and exacerbate healthcare costs that are crippling 29 million small businesses nationwide. Many business groups opposed the Affordable Care Act due to concerns that it would harm employers and workers, particularly small businesses. This harm would come by mandating more expensive, one-size-fits-all coverage and imposing billions of reforms to control healthcare costs. One specific fear was that health plan choices for small businesses would be reduced rather than expanded under the ACA.
So this decision to limit small
businesses to only a single option comes as no
Southern Arizona 4811 E. Grant Road, Suite 262 Tucson, AZ 85712 p. 520.327.0222
will be limited to a single health plan option.
dollars in new taxes without providing effective
Central Arizona
p. 602.306.4000
The delay will push back implementation of that plan until 2015; in the meantime, small businesses
f. 520.327.0440
© 2013 ASBA. A publication of the Arizona Small Business Association. For more information or to join ASBA, please contact us at www.asba.com. Section designed by the Arizona Small Business Association.
surprise. Some believe this has been the plan all along. For those of us who took a wait-and-see attitude, it is the bait and switch we hoped wouldn’t happen.
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