Changes

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Despite all of the backlash the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, has received for its perceived potential destruction on small businesses, for the most part, small businesses with under 50 full time equivalent employees are not unavoidably burdened by the ACA. In fact, companies with fewer than 50 FTE, which make up a large portion of small businesses, are not penalized at all for choosing not to provide employer-sponsored health care.

* for employers that sponsor self-insured plans, requires another information reporting that is separate from the information reporting required for employers with more than 50 FTE [https://www.sba.gov/content/employers-with-up-to-50-employees].

Health care is not a mandatory service for small businesses with fewer than 50 FTE, but many small businesses still provide health insurance to their employees. These companies, along with large companies, are seeing steeper premium prices on their insurance due to the ACA stipulation that health care companies cannot deny or charge coverage based on an individual's health or risk factors, pre-existing conditions, or sex. However, options to compensate with the increased cost of providing health care, the most obvious of which are opting out and increasing employees' contribution, include:

*participating in the SHOP Exchange