Obamacare and Small Business Owners

 

 

Long story short, Obamacare means affordable health-care is here to stay. In a recent Supreme Court ruling, King v. Burwell, the courts ruled that health insurance subsidies that were granted under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act are legal, regardless if people are claiming them on the state or federal level.

 

Why was this even an issue?

There was specific wording in the Obamacare law that stated subsidies are available to those who buy insurance “established by the state.”

 

This is great for people who do buy insurance through the state but, if interpreted literally, roughly 6.4 million people who receive subsidies for health insurance bought on the federal exchange would lose those insurance subsidies.

 

The Supreme Court ended up ruling that Obamacare was created to make health insurance more affordable, not destroy affordable insurance opportunities, therefore subsidies will remain available to those who purchase insurance from either the state or federal exchange.

 

What does this mean for small businesses and entrepreneurs?

For most businesses who did not previously offer health insurance Obamacare now requires them to do so, which can be a pretty significant cost. (Check out the full list of Obamacare requirements for business owners here.) But for entrepreneurs and small businesses, especially those who are just getting off the ground, the health insurance exchanges and subsidies have been a blessing.

 

One reason being that a new entrepreneur’s income is quite low the first year, therefore they belong to a tax bracket that qualifies them for subsidies so healthcare is affordable. Without it, entrepreneurs have two other choices, one being to refrain from purchasing any insurance at all and hoping for the best, or finding a job at a large company and forgoing the entrepreneurial dream.

 

What do you think about Obamacare and small business – share your opinions below!