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In recent days, some in Massachusetts have examined the impact of the state’s health reform law on small businesses, such as this article from the Boston Globe, with some comparing the Massachusetts law to the Affordable Care Act. While both laws share the goal of increasing health insurance coverage, the Affordable Care Act includes a number of features that aren’t found in the Massachusetts law that will do even more to improve our nation’s existing health care system, lower costs and provide significant benefits for small businesses.
As Administrator for the Small Business Administration, I’ve talked with entrepreneurs and small business owners around the country. The Affordable Care Act will help address many of the concerns I hear from them and make it easier for them to provide coverage to their workers.
Specifically, the new law:
Small business owners have been suffering under the weight of high health care costs for too long. In today’s insurance market, small businesses pay 18 percent higher premiums than large businesses and have higher administrative costs. The Affordable Care Act will help reduce the burden on small businesses and help ensure small business owners can continue to extend health care benefits to their employees.
And while it is always important to look back at previous work to reform the health care system at the state and federal level, we should remember that the Affordable Care Act is unlike any reform passed before. Commentators who try to compare the Commonwealth’s law and the Affordable Care Act are improperly comparing apples and oranges.
Karen Mills is Administrator of the Small Business Administration