‘Obamacare Pain’ For Small Biz

  ‘For Some Businesses, The Premium Jumps Are Positively Painful,’ ‘18 States Will Offer Only One Health Plan To Workers’
Exchanges ‘Launched With A Limp,’ ‘Enrolled Next To Nobody’ “...there’s apparently no way to know how many business owners and employees have signed up through the law’s new small-business exchanges. By all indications, though, it’s not very many. ... Since the launch last fall, the employer portals, known as SHOP exchanges, have suffered even more technical problems and delays than the exchange for individuals and families.” (“Why We Still Don’t Know How Many Small Businesses Signed Up Through Obamacare,” The Washington Post, 7/14/14)

“The Small Business Health Options Program (SHOP) ... has launched, but it has launched with a limp.” (“Small Business Participation In Health Exchanges Likely To Remain Weak,” McClatchy-Tribune Business News, 7/1/14)

• “In Connecticut, 78 businesses sought plans through April 8, covering 330 people.” (“Small Business Participation In Health Exchanges Likely To Remain Weak,” McClatchy-Tribune Business News, 7/1/14)
• In Washington, D.C. ‘fewer than 600 ... signed up through the small-business portal’ “In the District of Columbia, for instance, roughly 45,000 people have enrolled in plans through the city’s health care exchange, known as DC Health Link. However, fewer than 600 of those are employers or employees who signed up through the small-business portal.” (“Why We Still Don’t Know How Many Small Businesses Signed Up Through Obamacare,” The Washington Post, 7/14/14)
• “In Colorado, 220 businesses covering 1,860 people were signed up as of April 23.” (“Small Business Participation In Health Exchanges Likely To Remain Weak,” McClatchy-Tribune Business News, 7/1/14)
• In California ‘only 5,000 had bought plans through the SHOP exchange’ “In California, through the end of March, 1.4 million people have signed up through the individual marketplace, while only 5,000 had bought plans through the SHOP exchange.” (“Why We Still Don’t Know How Many Small Businesses Signed Up Through Obamacare,” The Washington Post, 7/14/14)
• In New York ‘only about 10,000 [enrollments] came in through the small business marketplace’ “New York’s state-run exchanges, meanwhile, have racked up nearly a million enrollees, but only about 10,000 came in through the small business marketplace.” (“Why We Still Don’t Know How Many Small Businesses Signed Up Through Obamacare,” The Washington Post, 7/14/14)

“A variety of factors has depressed enrollment in the first year, which helps ensure that enrollment will remain lackluster in the near future.” (“Small Business Participation In Health Exchanges Likely To Remain Weak,” McClatchy-Tribune Business News, 7/1/14)

• “…the federal SHOP is still nearly moribund.   Its website has yet to get off the ground. Without online enrollment — which the Obama administration maintains should be available this fall — the only sign-ups have come through via pen and paper. The result: The exchange has enrolled next to nobody.” (“SHOP Flop: Obamacare For Small Businesses,” Politico, 6/10/14)

“Small employers in 18 states will offer only one health plan to workers when the Affordable Care Act's small-business exchanges open this fall, federal officials said Tuesday.” (“Some Small-Business Employees to Have Only One Health-Plan Choice,” The Wall Street Journal, 6/10/14)

• “‘We’re extremely disappointed,’ said John Arensmeyer, CEO of the Small Business Majority, which backs the Affordable Care Act. ‘Choice is the single biggest competitive advantage for SHOP. It’s the feature of the exchange that’s most likely to draw in new businesses, and now 18 states won’t have it.’” (“SHOP Flop: Obamacare For Small Businesses,” Politico, 6/10/14)

‘Own A Small Business? Brace For Obamacare Pain’ “The law’s employer coverage mandate doesn’t take effect until 2015, but early plan renewals are starting to roll in. And for some businesses, the premium jumps are positively painful.” (“Own A Small Business? Brace For Obamacare Pain,” Las Vegas Review-Journal, 5/3/14)

• “Local insurance brokers are reporting spikes ranging from 35 percent to 120 percent on policies that renew from July to December. The increases are especially acute among employers with workforces made up of younger, healthier men. That’s because Obamacare prohibits offering lower rates to healthier groups.” (“Own a small business? Brace for Obamacare pain,” Las Vegas Review-Journal, 5/3/14)

Tommy Cain, Alabama grocery store owner with 240 employees:

• ‘Costs could swell to more than $500,000... “The timing couldn't be worse, really”’ “...Mr. Cain says he's worried that his company's health-care costs may become unmanageable. He's currently covering roughly 35% of his staff, which he says puts his total 2014 health-care expenses at about $290,000. . . . [I]f the number of enrollees in his health plans increases to 70% of his workforce, Mr. Cain estimates his costs could swell to more than $500,000. That might force him to raise prices, he says, at a time when the impact of this year's harsh winter—and an extended drought in California—is already pushing up costs for fruit and vegetables. ‘The timing couldn't be worse, really,’ he says. (“Small Businesses Find Benefits, Costs as They Navigate Affordable Care Act,” The Wall Street Journal, 4/23/14)

Erin Patinkin & Agatha Kulaga, Brooklyn bakery owners:

• ‘The entrepreneurs expect their 2014 health-care costs to be at least $30,000 more than they were in 2013.’ “The challenge: how to continue covering their staff despite rising insurance premiums under the law. A federal actuarial report released in February predicts that 65% of employers with 50 or fewer full-time employees will see their health premiums increase. ... [T]he entrepreneurs expect their 2014 health-care costs to be at least $30,000 more than they were in 2013. That's because before the renewal, they offered only one, low-cost plan with a $1,200 deductible. . . . The premiums for their current plans, which don't have a deductible, cost at least $100 more a month than the premiums for the old plan.” (“Small Businesses Find Benefits, Costs as They Navigate Affordable Care Act,” The Wall Street Journal, 4/23/14)
• “Ovenly's broker, Ralph Spagnuola, says he expects premiums for both of the company's plans to rise dramatically—about 20%—when they come up for renewal in November because they'll include new tax costs and benefits required under the health-care law, such as pediatric dental and vision coverage. He also says there will some changes to the plans themselves, with higher out-of-pockets for emergency care and hospital stays.” (“Small Businesses Find Benefits, Costs as They Navigate Affordable Care Act,” The Wall Street Journal, 4/23/14)

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