Small Business and Realizing Health Reform's Potential

On September 2, 2010, the Commonwealth Fund released a new analysis of the small business provisions contained in the federal health reform legislation (ACA). Marking a startling trend, research reveals that the smallest employers offer insurance benefits at a lower rate today than they did in 2000. Commonwealth’s analysis finds that ACA provisions attempt to address this issue by providing a small business tax credit to offset premium costs, state-based insurance exchanges that promise to lower administrative costs and pool risk more broadly, and new market rules and essential benefit standards to protect small firms and their workers.  They conclude that up to 16.6 million workers are in firms that would be eligible for the tax credit in 2010 to 2013. Over the next 10 years, small businesses and organizations could receive an estimated $40 billion in federal support through the premium credit program.