Nicole Riley, state director of the National Federation of Independent Business, released the following statement this morning in response to House approval of H.B. 58, a fix to the Affordable Care Act that maintains the current definition of a small-group business market as businesses with 1-50 employees:
“This is going to help a lot of small businesses. Obamacare hasn’t been the cure-all that supporters promised, and this emergency legislation is going to help small, family businesses continue to offer the same health benefits without a big increase in premiums.
“We appreciate the unanimous, bipartisan support of the House of Delegates and hope the Senate and Governor McAuliffe will act quickly so more affordable health plans can be offered to small businesses as soon as possible.”
The Affordable Care Act originally called for businesses with between 51 and 100 employees to shift into the small-group insurance market in 2016, leading to big rate increases for many small businesses. The federal government changed the rules to prevent the shift, but Virginia is one of a few states where the Bureau of Insurance regulates the implementation of the ACA, meaning the change couldn’t take place without legislative approval.
NFIB/Virginia is the commonwealth’s leading small-business association with over 6,000 dues-paying members representing a cross section of Virginia’s economy. Learn more at www.NFIB.com/VA or follow @NFIB_VA on Twitter.
