Small businesses need more affordable coverage options
What it means: NFIB Research Center Executive Director Holly Wade testified in a U.S. House Committee hearing on the value of employer-sponsored health benefits and the need for small businesses to be empowered with tools and coverage options to be able to offer their employees competitive health benefits.
Our take: “There is tremendous value in employer-provided coverage and in small businesses being able to provide robust, affordable health benefits to their employees. Unfortunately, almost all (98%) of small employers offering health insurance are concerned that the cost of providing health insurance to their employees will become unsustainable in the next 5-10 years,” said Holly Wade, NFIB Research Center Executive Director.
Take Action: Tell your senator to lower health insurance costs and increase insurance options for small business.
According to NFIB research, the cost of health insurance continues to rank as the most burdensome issue for small business owners, a ranking held since 1986. Holly Wade, Executive Director for the NFIB Research Center, testified before the U.S. House Committee on Education and the Workforce Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions in a hearing on Sept. 11. Wade spoke on the role employer-provided coverage has played in the U.S. and on small businesses.
NFIB consistently supports measures that would empower more small businesses with greater coverage choices, enabling them to offer valuable benefits. The ability to offer health insurance helps small businesses attract talent in a competitive hiring market. “Almost two-thirds of non-offering small employers say that health insurance is too expensive for them to offer it as a benefit,” said Wade.
This hearing marked the 50th anniversary of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) which sets minimum standards for retirement and health plans. “While most small firms remain fully insured, ERISA protections have been crucial in ensuring that even the smallest businesses can offer health benefits to their employees while having the flexibility and predictability to design benefits in a way that works best for them,” explained Wade.
NFIB will continue to push for ERISA to be protected, enabling small businesses to offer valuable benefits to their employees and stay competitive. Wade’s full testimony is now available to read, and the hearing is available to watch.
Take Action: Tell your Senator to support legislation that lowers costs and alleviates administrative burdens for small employers.
