On the recordJuly 10, 2012
I yield myself as much time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, on average, small businesses pay more for health insurance than large firms for comparable policies, but receive fewer benefits. Prior to enactment of the ACA, 20 percent of consumers were in plans that spent more than 30 cents of every premium dollar on administrative costs, and an additional 25 percent were in plans that spent between 25 and 30 percent of every premium dollar on administrative costs. The ACA included the medical loss ratio that requires the insurance company to spend at least 80 percent of small employer premium dollars on medical costs instead of administrative expenses. Is that bad for small businesses? When Republicans were in control of both Chambers and held the Oval Office, they talked about this solution for nearly a decade, and yet nothing happened. In that time, small businesses saw their employees' premiums rise by an average of $700 every single year. Why should small businesses believe they can deliver on a promise this time? So, finally, the law needs to be implemented. The most beneficial provision to small employers doesn't go into effect until 2014. The availability of State exchanges in 2014 could spur more small business owners to provide health benefits to employees. For example, in California, just 32 percent of small businesses currently offer health insurance to their employees, but the number of those likely to offer insurance through exchanges jumped to 44 percent.…
