Health Insurance Reformers: Don't Forget Small Businesses

Health Insurance Reformers: Don't Forget Small Businesses in Group Health Insurance

When we talk about health insurance reform, for the most part, we’re talking about fixing how the individual health insurance market works. In other words, we’re debating fixes to help Americans who don’t have access to group health insurance through their employer.

The group that often gets left out of the conversation is small businesses — companies with 50 workers or less.

According to a New York Times article, many health insurance companies believe that the small business health insurance market works fairly well.

“Those markets generally work today. They are well regulated by states today,” said WellPoint Chief Strategy Officer, Bradley M. Fluegel.

But small businesses don’t necessarily agree.

Many employers say they face many of the same issues as individuals looking for coverage — in particular, those with pre-existing health conditions typically have trouble finding affordable health insurance.

So far, here are the main options to modify the small business market:

• Leave it unchanged.
• Apply the same reforms to both the individual and small business health insurance market.
• Create a separate reform plan for small businesses.

The Times article didn’t suggest a front-runner and we’re not sure either. As the article writes, “What Congress finally comes up with, of course, is still anyone’s guess.”

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