Health Care Policy Brief #3

Spotlight on Small Business

Georgia PIRG Education Fund

While many Americans struggle with the rising costs and eroding quality of health care, the plight of small businesses stands out – lacking the advantages possessed by larger businesses, they face unique challenges. Without the bargaining power to negotiate with insurers for better rates, they often get less value for their health care dollars. And because smaller businesses often lack a human resources department, they are often left alone to negotiate an often-confusing insurance market.
In tandem with other reforms in the new federal health care law, states can design their exchange to help address all of these problems, giving small businesses and their employees access to meaningful choices and higher-value, more affordable coverage. Not only will this benefit the small businesses themselves, but lowering the cost they pay for their coverage can have a significant positive impact on the state’s economic health and job creation rates.