One of the many Republican knocks against the Affordable Care Act [Obamacare] is that it \u201churts small businesses.\u201d But, on closer examination, \u201cObamacare\u201d may be the best thing Washington has done for small businesses in decades, says James Surowieki, in an article in the New Yorker.<\/p>\n

Republicans have tried to scare small business owners and aspiring entrepreneurs into thinking that the Affordable Care Act will hurt profits. But they\u2019d be wrong.<\/p>\n

First, some background:<\/p>\n

\u2026the overwhelming majority of American businesses\u201496 percent\u2014have fewer than 50 employees. The employer mandate doesn\u2019t touch them. And more than 90 percent of the companies above that threshold already offer health insurance. Only three percent are in the zone [between 40 and 75 employees] where the threshold will be an issue.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Contrary to Republican propaganda, Obamacare actually offers significant upsides for small businesses, including:<\/p>\n

Making it easier for people to start their own companies.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Starting a small business has always been a risky proposition in the U.S., because you couldn\u2019t be sure of finding affordable health insurance. As Surowiecki puts it:<\/p>\n

In the U.S. we pride ourselves on our entrepreneurial spirit, be we\u2019ve had this bizarre disincentive in the system that keeps people from starting new businesses.\u00a0 Purely for the sake of health insurance, people stay in jobs they aren\u2019t suited for\u2014a phenomenon that economists call \u201cjob lock.\u201d With the new law,\u00a0 job lock goes away. Anyone who wants to start a business can do so independent of the health-care costs.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Helping small businesses with health-care costs.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Our current system\u2014in which most Americans get their health insurance through work is fine for big employers, since large workforces make possible the pooling fo risk that any healthy insurance market requires. But small businesses often face so-called \u201cexperience rating\u201d: a business with a lot of women or older workers face high premiums..No wonder that fewer than half the companies with under 50 employees insure them, and that half of uninsured workers work for small businesses or are self-employed. In fact, a full quarter of small-business owners are uninsured, too.<\/p>\n

Obamacare changes all this. It provides tax credits to smaller businesses that want to insure their employees. And it requires \u201ccommunity rating\u201d for small businesses, just as it does for individuals, sharply restricting insurers\u2019 ability to charge a company\u00a0 more because it has employees with higher health costs. And small-business exchanges will in effect allow companies to pool their risks to get better rates. You\u2019re really taking the benefits that big companies enjoy, and letting small businesses tap into that.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

One of the many Republican knocks against the Affordable Care Act [Obamacare] is that it \u201churts small businesses.\u201d But, on closer examination, \u201cObamacare\u201d may<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":26259,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2071,1136,45,113],"tags":[1265,1368],"yoast_head":"\n