FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

BOSTON, MA (July 21, 2025) – The National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), the nation’s leading small business advocacy association, released the following statement regarding the Division of Insurance’s Merged Market Rate rejections and adjustments.

“Health insurance costs have consistently risen at unsustainable rates for Massachusetts small businesses and their workers,” said Christopher Carlozzi, Massachusetts state director for NFIB. “For too long employers have faced annual double digit premium increases as lawmakers focused on access to and quality of care over affordability. Today’s action by the Division of Insurance is a step towards recognizing the state’s health insurance affordability problem that has plagued small businesses for decades now.”

In March of 2025, NFIB released a new health care policy paper entitled, “Addressing the Health Insurance Affordability Crisis for Small Businesses.” The findings of this nationwide report coincide with what the unique Massachusetts merged market is experiencing: that health coverage is becoming unsustainable for millions of small businesses and their employees.

Key findings from the report:

• The small-group market is in freefall, with enrollment plummeting from 15 million individuals in 2014 to just 8.5 million in 2023, a 44% drop.
• Average premiums for small businesses have skyrocketed: Average single plan premiums have gone up 120% in the last two decades, while average family plan premiums have increased by 129% for firms with 50 or fewer employees.
• Only 30% of small businesses still offer health insurance, down from nearly 50% in 2000.
• Ninety-eight percent of small businesses say they are concerned about whether they will be able to afford to continue offering health insurance in the next five years.
• Small businesses pay twice as much for health insurance as large businesses; firms with less than $600,000 in revenue spend nearly 12% of payroll on health benefits, compared to 7% for firms with over $2.4 million in revenue.

“At the June 2025 Small Business Summit at the State House, small business owners sounded off directly to Commissioner Caljouw on how offering affordable health insurance to their workforce is near impossible,” continued Carlozzi. “It is encouraging to see their pleas were not ignored.”

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For over 80 years, NFIB has been advocating on behalf of America’s small and independent business owners, both in Washington, D.C., and in all 50 state capitals. NFIB is nonprofit, nonpartisan, and member-driven. Since our founding in 1943, NFIB has been exclusively dedicated to small and independent businesses, and remains so today. For more information, please visit nfib.com.