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(HealthNewsDigest.com) – Trumpcare or Obamacare, that is the battle which is raging in Washington D.C. now. While you might not think it matters to you, the fact is that the cost of health insurance, and by extension, health care is so high that it represents a tax on small business owners across the country. Unfortunately, neither party has woken up to this and the result is looming uncertainty in health insurance markets which will hit small business owners the hardest.
Now, this article is not about the politics of healthcare reform – you can get your fill of that on our favorite cable news channel. Instead, the goal of this article is to give you some insight as to why your health insurance is about to get very expensive and hopefully some ideas on what to do about it.
As mentioned healthcare reform is a hot-button issue in America today. But one potential problem for small business owners is a looming battle over funding for the Small Business Health Options Program (SHOP).
If you haven’t heard of this program, then you should know that SHOP helps small business owners by setting up a centralized marketplace to help companies with fewer than 50 employees to find the best health insurance options at affordable prices. While the program is a market approach to helping small companies get insurance there are a raft of subsidies which were also available.
It is those subsidies which are scheduled to be cut and the fallout could push many small businesses out of the insurance market altogether. If that were to happen, then it is possible that rates for small businesses might increase.
This is a shame. While SHOP has had some problems, the answer might not be ending the program. In fact, it its limited life the program had coerced private insurers to make changes to their programs. As such, the market was reacting by providing better options to an important group of customers.
That being said, some observers have noted that SHOP adds an extra layer to the health insurance process – and this is a fair point. However, eliminating the program would actually take an amount of transparency out of the market is it would force small business owners to spend time searching for insurance on their own.
However, one potential solution to this problem is to seek the services of any number of companies who help to develop customized insurance solutions for small businesses. An example of this is Design Health of Englewood, Colorado. The company works with employers, individuals, and families to put together personalized health insurance solutions.
In many ways, companies like this might represent the future of the SHOP program. However, the uncertainty caused by the delay to pass any meaningful health care reform has made it harder to know what might happen when open enrollment periods begin this fall.
This is a shame as the real challenge with health care in the U.S. is the overall cost. Even hardcore conservatives have admitted as much. According to Kurt Schlichter, lawmakers ‘continue to conflate health insurance – which should hedge people against unexpected expenses – with routine health care.’
Even when small businesses can get health insurance, another problem arises – how to pay the premiums. Most insurers expect companies to pay the premiums all at once and this creates a strain for a small business which is struggling to make ends meet.
While there are financial engineering tricks which can be used to offset the impact, the fact is that most small business lack the wherewithal to undertake complex financial machinations. As such, the options are generally to take the hit or go without.
However, programs like SHOP made it easier for small businesses to pay for insurance while placing limits on what insurance companies can do with regards to canceling policies and increasing rate.
Without such a program, other options for small businesses could include joining industry buying groups or looking into statewide programs designed to make sure that small businesses can gain some leverage in the market.
No matter what happens this summer, it looks like 2018 will be a year of increased uncertainty for small businesses when it comes to health insurance. While there isn’t much that owners can do about the policies, they can look to see what programs are available today to lessen the blow tomorrow.
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