Small Businesses Face New Obamacare Threat

Forbes ^ | July 29, 2015 | By Grace-Marie Turner

[Brad from Tennessee]

Small businesses are in the cross-hairs of Obamacare, particularly the growing small businesses the economy needs to create much-needed jobs.

Starting in 2016, businesses with 51 to 100 employees will face fines of $2,000 to $3,000 a year per employee if they don’t provide Obamacare-compliant health insurance for their workers. Also starting next year, these companies will be forced into insurance pools that could increase premiums for most of them by an average of 18%. That means they would be mandated to purchase health insurance that, for most, would be much more expensive.

The change will affect more than 150,000 businesses and more than three million workers.

Currently, health insurers have broad flexibility in setting premiums for these mid-sized employers, giving them flexibility in benefit structure, rating rules, etc. But the brilliant drafters of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) decided to force all small businesses with 1 to 100 employees into the same pool, starting next year.

An analysis by the actuarial firm Oliver Wyman estimates that nearly two thirds of workers (64%) in companies with 51-100 employees will receive premium increases next year averaging 18%, directly as a result of Obamacare rating rules that remove much of the flexibility in pricing of premiums.

The premiums will be set based upon the small business pool as a whole. . .

[Red Badger]

That will force a lot of businesses to ‘hire’ contract workers thru job shops..............

[Gen.Blather]

“That will force a lot of businesses to ‘hire’ contract workers thru job shops..............”

I’ve known a couple of guys who contracted for decades to the same company. They got paid more than the employees. Then, when they retired, they sued the company claiming to be employees and they wanted pensions and other benefits. One won. I don’t how the other one turned out. But contractors are not risk free. In addition, the IRS has 26 questions to determine whether a contractor is really an employee. There’s almost no way contractors, as I have known them, can not be considered employees if the IRS so chooses.

[Sergio]

Just following the steps needed to make the uninformed WANT a single payer system.

[grumpygresh]

There surely won’t be any businesses with exactly 50 employees and not many at 51, 52, 53 etc.

[vpintheak]

It’s for your own dang good! Suck it up and deal citizen!

[Gadsden1st]

You are exactly right. The IRS is on a crusade to classify independent contractors as employees. Anyone that is currently operating as an indepent contractor needs to search “ misclassification of employees as independent contractors” to check it out. Looks like it is being pushed because of Obamacare.

[ameribbean expat]

First Dodd-Frank wiped out community banks (http://www.news-leader.com/story/opinion/contributors/2015/07/28/long-notorious-dodd-frank-wall-street-reform-act-turns/30808941/),

then ObamaCare threatens to wipe out small business. Didn’t know any better, one would think B.O was the candidate of big biz...cause that sure is who’s benefitted from his domestic policies.

[Brad from Tennessee]

Thanks for the link.

[CPT Clay]

Cannot grow your company until Obama leaves.

[Pollster1]

businesses with 51 to 100 employees will face fines of $2,000 to $3,000 a year per employee

I used to be in that size bracket. Shortly after Obamacare passed, I started shutting down because of big government in general. Now, I am retired, and the company no longer exists. My good (former) employees are mostly self-employed, and the small number of others have disappeared from my life.

Obamacare is evil, it's bad business, and its bad medicine. I feel sorry for the people who have mandatory Obamacare against their will. They cannot get medical care because the cheap plans don't do anything except provide "free" birth control pills for a few hundred dollars a month.