Small Business Group, Local Business Owners Discuss Impact of Repealing the Affordable Care Act on Small Businesses and the Self-Employed in Chattanooga
Chattanooga, Tenn. — Small Business Majority, a national small business advocacy organization, today hosted a telephone press conference with Chattanooga small business owners to explain why attempts to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA) will harm small businesses.
Lindsay Mueller, Midwest Director of Small Business Majority, said:
“We cannot return to the old way of doing business. While certain provisions of the ACA can and should be improved–including enhancing support for the small business marketplaces, expanding the small business tax credit, and addressing real issues of risk in the insurance market–repealing the ACA would eradicate hard-won benefits for America’s entrepreneurs, cause a rapid rise in healthcare costs and create tremendous economic instability.”
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Jenny Rogers, co-owner of Welcome Valley Village in Benton, Tenn., said:
“My husband and I have owned and operated a small business in Polk County Tennessee for the past 22 years. If the Affordable Care Act is repealed without an equally-effective plan to immediately replace it, we will most likely be forced to sell our business or go without health insurance coverage. In 2013, our family was able to obtain coverage through the ACA marketplace when insurance carriers could no longer charge higher premiums for people with pre-existing conditions. We cannot go back to the dark days when insurance companies were able to price gouge people with medical conditions.”
Jennifer Hoff, who launched her firm, Skye Strategies, through Springboard and the Chamber’s INCubator program, credited the ACA with providing her the security needed to start a company.
“More than 10 years ago, I began to dream of opening my own grant-writing company,” she said. “I made notes of the ‘pros’ and ‘cons’ of taking this risk. At the top of the ‘cons’ — losing my family’s health insurance. I tucked the papers away in my desk, but I still held onto my dream. After the ACA passed, I could move on to realize my dream of creating and building a company in Chattanooga knowing that if I ever lost my husband’s coverage I would have the security of the Affordable Care Act.”
Entrepreneurs and the self-employed nationwide have reaped substantial benefit from the ACA. In fact, a recent analysis by the U.S. Treasury Department revealed that one in five people who purchased coverage through the healthcare exchanges created by the ACA are small business owners or self employed individuals.
The Affordable Care Act is also helping to end “job lock” by allowing workers who previously felt tied to their job by their benefits package to seek out their own entrepreneurial path or join thriving small businesses. In fact, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation predicted 1.5 million more people would launch their own business because of the ACA — flexibility that will no longer be an option if the law is repealed.
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About Small Business Majority
Small Business Majority was founded and is run by small business owners to focus on solving the biggest problems facing small businesses today. Since 2005, we have actively engaged small business owners and policymakers in support of public policy solutions, and have delivered information and resources to entrepreneurs that promote small business growth and drive a strong economy.
We regularly engage our network of 55,000 small business owners along with a formal strategic partnership program of more than 150 business organizations, enabling us to reach more than 500,000 entrepreneurs. Our extensive scientific polling, focus groups and economic research help us educate and inform policymakers, the media and other stakeholders about key issues impacting small businesses and freelancers, including access to capital, taxes, healthcare, retirement, entrepreneurship and workforce development. Learn more about us on our website and follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.