What Small Business Thinks About Health Reform
Add one more splash of bad news to the cascade that has spilled out since the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) became law in 2010. The NFIB Research Foundation’s just-released study shows that small business is deeply pessimistic about the changing face of American healthcare as the new law sinks in. In the survey, business owners note some troubling trends in the health-insurance market and don’t expect things to improve with time.
Three broad conclusions emerge from the survey: (1) For small business, the health insurance market deteriorated somewhat during the law’s first year; (2) Business owners do not expect the healthcare environment to improve with time; and (3) Small businesses are seeking safer harbors, including defined contribution plans and abandonment of employer-sponsored insurance altogether. We can add a smaller fourth conclusion: (4) The small business tax credit doesn’t appear to have much impact on the number of businesses offering coverage.
