| Weekly Update from Sam |
| Dear Friends,
The Small Business Health Options Program (SHOP) exchanges created by the President’s health law that were slated to open today are still not ready. This is another concern for small businesses already burdened by new requirements from the law. SHOPs are supposed to offer various insurance plan options for small firms to select from so they can offer plans to their employees. The administration initially postponed the small business exchanges from Oct. 1 to Nov. 1, and previously announced the federal exchanges will not offer employers a choice of plans in 2014. This week, we learned from an official testifying before Congress that the administration has bumped the start date even further back. They are now planning for a late November opening of the SHOP exchanges.
I’m concerned about the growing challenges for small businesses that are attempting to keep up with the changes and follow this law’s requirements. The law is causing new costs and paperwork for small businesses, and some are likely among the millions of Americans being informed that their current plan is being canceled under the law. If the SHOPs don’t open until the end of November, that means small businesses could have as little as 16 days to choose a plan for their employees through the exchanges. That’s unacceptable.
In a struggling economy, the administration should be finding ways to promote growth, not burdening small businesses with more problems and uncertainty.
Sincerely,
Sam Graves
Chairman
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Latest Committee Action
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On Thursday, Chairman Graves sent a letter to Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius expressing concerns about how the confusion, website problems and last minute changes will affect small businesses, and calling for clarification of the start date for the twice-delayed SHOPs exchanges. Chairman Graves focused on the narrow time frame these changes leave for small businesses as they seek to provide health care coverage for employees, stating in the letter: “…that leaves precious little time – a mere 16 days – for an already busy and burdened small business owner to learn about various insurance plans and make a decision so that they have coverage in place on January 1.” Read news reports here and here.
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News from Washington
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On Wednesday, the House passed two bills to protect Americans from regulatory overreach. By a bipartisan vote of 292-122, the House passed H.R. 992, the Swaps Regulatory Improvement Act. This bill amends the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act to allow banks to provide risk mitigation that will benefit small businesses, manufacturers, farmers and others. The change will help protect these businesses from unnecessary red tape and burdensome regulatory costs. By a vote of 254-166, the House also passed H.R. 2374, the Retail Investor Protection Act, which amends SEC rules to ensure that unnecessary regulations don’t prevent moderate income investors from accessing financial advice and brokers.
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Small Biz Health Care Costs Rise
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On Thursday, NFIB released a study showing that health care costs for small businesses continue to rise, contrary to the administration’s claims that the health care law would lower costs. As reported here, the survey shows that 64 percent of small companies’ health insurance costs per employee are higher this year than the previous year. Chairman Graves said, “This NFIB survey is further proof that the health care law is harming small business growth, and the claim of lower costs is another in a long line of broken promises from the administration regarding this law.”
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| November 1, 2013 |
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| What We're Reading |
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Small Biz Resources
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| Tweet of the Week |
@SmallBizGOP #WhichIsIT? Watch our new video on how the latest health care law delay creates more confusion for #SmallBiz http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-yW7YQ76U14
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