Affordable Care Act's One-Year Anniversary Marks Better Benefits, Better Health for Small Businesses

This week, as the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services [HHS] marks the one-year anniversary of enactment of the Affordable Care Act, it also kicks off its Better Benefits, Better Health Initiative. This initiative will highlight the important information that consumers, families and businesses need in order to optimize the far-reaching benefits of reform.

HHS is kicking off the initiative by highlighting some important information for small-business owners. Small-business owners and their employees have always gotten the short end of the stick, paying an average of 18% more for insurance that often covers less than the policies sold to their larger competitors. And small businesses lack the purchasing power that larger employers have.

That's all changing, thanks to the health-care law signed by President Obama one year ago. Thankfully, the Affordable Care Act is helping small-business owners get quality, affordable coverage for their families and their employees.

Here are some important things to know:

* If you own a small business with fewer than 25 fulltime-equivalent employees, you may qualify for a small-business tax credit to help offset the costs of covering your employees. Small-business owners can visit www.irs.gov/sbhtc to learn more.

* HHS estimates that up to 4 million small businesses could be eligible to receive these tax credits to make employees’ health coverage more affordable. And the tax credits will be worth a combined total of $40 billion over ten years.

* Employer-based plans that provide health insurance to retirees ages 55-64 can get financial help through the Early Retiree Reinsurance Program. This program is designed to maintain health coverage for retirees, workers, and employers. Visit http://www.errp.gov/ to learn more.

* If one of your workers has been uninsured because of a pre-existing condition, he or she may be eligible to join the Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plan. To find out about plans available in your state, please visit: http://www.pcip.gov/.

* If you are in a new insurance plan, insurance companies cannot charge you or your workers a deductible or copays for recommended preventive services; e.g., mammograms, flu shots. Click here to find a list of preventive services that will be covered without copays.

In addition, insurance companies are prohibited from capping the dollar amount of care that you or your employees can receive in a lifetime, or dropping coverage due to an honest mistake on an application when someone gets sick. And they have to spend at least 80% of your premium dollars on health care and quality improvements, instead of overhead, salaries or administrative expenses -- or provide you and your workers a rebate.

To learn more about the specific provisions of the Affordable Care Act, visit: http://1.usa.gov/ProvisionsACA.

SOURCES: HealthCare.gov [photo], IRS.gov, U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, White House
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June 22 & 24: SBA Offers Free Webinar and Web Chat to Encourage Disaster Preparedness Planning for Business Owners

No matter what time of year it is, or where you run your business, it’s a good idea to have a disaster preparedness plan in place. Recent disasters, such as the record-breaking flooding which occurred in Tennessee in April, serve as reminders to be proactive when it comes to building strategies to survive a disaster and recover quickly.

Toward this end, the U.S. Small Business Administration will offer two online disaster preparedness events next week:

Tuesday, June 22 -- 2:00 - 3:00 p.m. EDT
Agility Recovery Solutions President & CEO Bob Boyd will discuss "10 Steps to Business Preparedness." Boyd will highlight key aspects of business continuity planning -- including risk assessment, data backup, crisis communications and insurance coverage. A Q&A will follow.

Register in advance at: http://www.preparemybusiness.org/education.

Thursday, June 24 -- 1:00 - 2:00 p.m. EDT
SBA’s monthly Online Business Chat, "Disaster Preparedness for Business Owners: An Inside View," will be hosted by Nashville business owner Genma Holmes [pictured], CEO of Holmes Pest Control. Holmes will share her experience of how another business owner’s losses after Hurricane Katrina inspired her to develop her own preparedness plan. Because she was ready for the disaster, Holmes was able to resume operations just one day after cleaning up after a recent flood in Nashville.

Holmes will take questions and offer advice on disaster preparedness. Those participating in the Thursday Web chat may submit questions before or during the discussion.

Join the event live by visiting http://www.sba.gov/, and clicking "Online Business Chat." Web chat participants may post questions prior to the event by visiting: http://bit.ly/LiveMeetingSBA.

To review archives of past Web chats, go to: http://bit.ly/MonthlyWebChatSBA.

For education, planning, testing, and disaster preparedness tools and information to help keep your business up and running -- after a disaster, power outage, etc. -- please visit: http://www.preparemybusiness.org/.

SOURCES: Genma Speaks [photo], U.S. Small Business Administration
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SBA Administrator Mills Encourages Americans to Plan for Disasters During National Preparedness Month

Citing current wildfires in Southern California and several storms impacting coastal regions, the U.S. Small Business Administration [SBA] is encouraging Americans to be prepared. In a message posted today on YouTube, SBA Administrator Karen G. Mills [pictured] reminds the public about National Preparedness Month and the devastating effects of disaster, encouraging everyone to develop and implement disaster preparedness plans.

"There’s a tendency to think that a large-scale disaster is not going to happen 'where I live,'" Mills. "We should all realize that storms, floods, earthquakes, fires and man-made disasters can strike at any time and anywhere. Taking responsibility for your own post-disaster recovery is a good step toward protecting your family, your business and your community."

The U.S. Small Business Administration is one of many federal, state and local government and private-sector coalition partners participating in this September’s National Preparedness Month.

The Administrator’s video can be found at www.youtube.com/sba.

To prepare for disasters, SBA offers the following tips:

Develop a solid emergency response plan. Find evacuation routes from the home or business, and establish meeting places. Make sure everyone understands the plan beforehand. Keep emergency phone numbers handy. Business owners should designate a contact person to communicate with other employees, customers and vendors. Homeowners, renters and business owners should ask an out-of-state friend, colleague or family member to be a "post-disaster" point of contact, supporting the flow of information about short-term relocations, recovery, additional sources of assistance, etc.

Make sure you have adequate insurance coverage. Disaster preparedness begins with having adequate insurance coverage -- at least enough to rebuild your home or business. Homeowners and business owners should review their policies to see what is or isn’t covered. Companies should consider business interruption insurance, which helps cover operating costs during the post-disaster shutdown period. Flood insurance is essential. To find out more about the National Flood Insurance Program, visit the website at www.floodsmart.gov/.

Copy important records. It’s a good idea to back up vital records and information saved on computer hard drives, and store that information at a distant offsite location in fireproof safe deposit boxes. You should have copies/backups of important documents ready to take with you if you have to evacuate.

Create a "Disaster Survival Kit." The kit should include a flashlight, a portable radio, extra batteries, first-aid supplies, non-perishable food, bottled water, a basic tool kit, plastic sheeting and garbage bags, cash, and a digital camera to take pictures of the property damage after the storm.

More preparedness tips for businesses, homeowners and renters are available on the SBA’s website at www.sba.gov/disasterassistance.

The Institute for Business and Home Safety [www.disastersafety.org/] also has information on protecting your home or business. To learn more about developing an emergency plan, visit the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Ready Campaign website at www.ready.gov/; or, call 1-800-BE-READY to receive free materials.

Following a disaster, the SBA makes low-interest loans to homeowners, renters and non-farm businesses of all sizes. Homeowners may borrow up to $200,000 to repair or replace damaged real estate. Individuals may borrow up to $40,000 to cover losses to personal property.

Non-farm businesses and nonprofit organizations of any size may apply for up to $2 million to repair or replace disaster-damaged business assets and real property. Small businesses that suffered economic losses as a direct result of the declared disaster may apply for a working capital loan up to $2 million, even if the property was not physically damaged.

To learn more about the SBA’s disaster assistance program, visit the website at www.sba.gov/disasterassistance.

SOURCE: U.S. Small Business Administration
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President Obama: Health Insurance Reform Will Strengthen Small Businesses

In his weekly address, President Barack Obama [pictured] cited a report released this morning by the Council of Economic Advisers in explaining how health insurance reform will strengthen small businesses in America. With small businesses paying up to 18 percent more for health insurance than large businesses, too many small businesses are forced to cut benefits, law off workers, or close down entirely. Health insurance reform will support small businesses by allowing them purchase plans through an insurance exchange and by providing tax credits to help them provide benefits.

* * *

Following, is the full text of President Obama's remarks:

I recently heard from a small-business owner from New Jersey who wrote that he employs eight people and provides health insurance for all of them. But his policy goes up at least 20 percent each year, and today, it costs almost $1,400 per family per month -- his highest business expense besides his employees’ salaries. He’s already had to let two of them go, and he may be forced to eliminate health insurance altogether.

He wrote, simply: "I am not looking for free health care. I would just like to get my premiums reduced enough to be able to afford it."

Day after day, I hear from people just like him. Workers worried they may lose their coverage if they become too sick, or lose their job, or change jobs. Families who fear they may not be able to get insurance, or change insurance, if someone in their family has a pre-existing condition. And small-business owners trying to make a living and do right by the people they employ.

These are the mom-and-pop stores and restaurants, beauty shops and construction companies that support families and sustain communities. They’re the tiny startups with big ideas, hoping to become the next Google or Apple or HP. And, as shown in a new report released today by the White House Council of Economic Advisers, right now they are getting crushed by skyrocketing health care costs.

Because they lack the bargaining power that large businesses have and face higher administrative costs per person, small businesses pay up to 18 percent more for the very same health insurance plans -- costs that eat into their profits and get passed on to their employees.

As a result, small businesses are much less likely to offer health insurance. Those that do tend to have less generous plans. In a recent survey, one-third of small businesses reported cutting benefits. Many have dropped coverage altogether. And many have shed jobs, or shut their doors entirely.

This is unsustainable, it’s unacceptable, and it’s going to change when I sign health insurance reform into law.

Under the reform plans in Congress, small businesses will be able to purchase health insurance through an "insurance exchange" -- a marketplace where they can compare the price, quality and services of a wide variety of plans, many of which will provide better coverage at lower costs than the plans they have now. They can then pick the one that works best for them and their employees.

Small businesses that choose to insure their employees will also receive a tax credit to help them pay for it. If a small business chooses not to provide coverage, its employees can purchase high-quality, affordable coverage through the insurance exchange on their own. Low-income workers -- folks who are more likely to be working at small businesses -- will qualify for a subsidy to help them cover the costs.

And, no matter how you get your insurance, insurance companies will no longer be allowed to deny you coverage because of a pre-existing condition. They won’t be able to drop your coverage if you get too sick, or lose your job, or change jobs. And we’ll limit the amount your insurance company can force you to pay out of your own pocket.

To view the new report and learn more about how health insurance reform will help small businesses, go to WhiteHouse.gov, and send us your questions and comments. We’ll answer as many of them as we can later this week.

Over the past few months, I’ve been pushing hard to make sure we finally address the need for health insurance reform, which has been deferred year after year, decade after decade. And today, after a lot of hard work in Congress, we are closer than ever before to finally passing reform that will reduce costs, expand coverage, and provide more choices for our families and businesses.

It has taken months to reach this point, and once this legislation passes, we’ll need to move thoughtfully and deliberately to implement these reforms over a period of several years. That is why I feel such a sense of urgency about moving this process forward.

Now, I know there are those who are urging us to delay reform. And some of them have actually admitted that this is a tactic designed to stop any reform at all. Some have even suggested that, regardless of its merits, health care reform should be stopped as a way to inflict political damage on my Administration. I’ll leave it to them to explain that to the American people.

What I’m concerned about is the damage that’s being done right now to the health of our families, the success of our businesses, and the long-term fiscal stability of our government. I’m concerned about hard-working folks who want nothing more than the security that comes with knowing they can get the care they need, when they need it. I’m concerned about the small-business owners who are asking for nothing more than a chance to seize their piece of the American Dream. I’m concerned about our children and grandchildren who will be saddled with deficits that will continue piling up year after year unless we pass reform.

This debate is not a political game for these Americans, and they cannot afford to keep waiting for reform. We owe it to them to finally get it done -- and to get it done this year. Thank you.

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To read and/or download the Council of Economic Advisers' report, "The Economic Effects of Health Care Reform on Small Businesses and Their Employees," go directly to: http://budurl.com/HealthReformSmallBiz.

SOURCES: Council of Economic Advisors, The White House
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