Congress approves reprieve for small-group health threshold
Companies with 51 to 100 employees may get a break from being thrown into the small-group market for health insurance in 2016 under legislation approved last week by Congress, the Washington Business Journal reported. It’s not known whether President Barack Obama will sign the legislation, however.
Many business groups and the National Association of Insurance Commissioners supported the Protecting Affordable Coverage for Employees (PACE) Act, which restores the 50-employee threshold for the small-group market. The legislation gives states the option, however, to expand it to 100 employees.
Many businesses in the 51-100 employee range didn’t want to be placed into the small-group market because they feared they would face higher insurance premiums. That’s because their health plans would be subject to the small-group market’s rating restrictions and benefits requirements.
The Affordable Care Act’s expansion of the small-group market in 2016 was designed to help small businesses get a better deal by broadening the risk pool in this market. That’s why one small business organization, Small Business Majority, opposed the PACE Act.
Plus, expanding the small-group market would make more businesses eligible for coverage through the Small Business Health Options Program, the insurance exchanges set up for small businesses under the ACA.
The potential shift in small-group size is one of the biggest issues that small businesses in Iowa have been preparing for as open enrollment season approaches. We recently interviewed Joe Stopulos, an account executive with Holmes Murphy & Associates Inc., about different options for coverage that businesses are considering — particularly a move into self-insured plans.
Holmes Murphy has already calculated premium increases as high as 60 percent for some small groups if they stay with the same plan. At the same time, other groups are seeing as much as 20 percent reductions in rates, Stopulos said.
Trending News
