Small Businesses Less Anxious About Health Costs, Thanks to Obamacare
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  Small Businesses Less Anxious About Health Costs, Thanks to Obamacare
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Author Topic: Small Businesses Less Anxious About Health Costs, Thanks to Obamacare  (Read 1097 times)
Frodo
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« on: November 16, 2014, 02:11:08 PM »

Small business health-care fears ease

Joyce M. Rosenberg, The Associated Press
9:26 a.m. EST November 16, 2014


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shua
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« Reply #1 on: November 16, 2014, 02:33:33 PM »

Yes, only 72% cite it as a major concern, as opposed to 74% earlier this year. It's obviously not a major problem anymore.
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« Reply #2 on: November 16, 2014, 03:37:47 PM »

Yes, only 72% cite it as a major concern, as opposed to 74% earlier this year. It's obviously not a major problem anymore.

In 2013, Republicans were guaranteeing that Obamacare would lead to a second Great Depression. Now their argument is "Bbbbut Obamacare is only making things slightly better."

It's time to give it up.
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shua
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« Reply #3 on: November 16, 2014, 11:20:44 PM »

Yes, only 72% cite it as a major concern, as opposed to 74% earlier this year. It's obviously not a major problem anymore.

In 2013, Republicans were guaranteeing that Obamacare would lead to a second Great Depression. Now their argument is "Bbbbut Obamacare is only making things slightly better."

It's time to give it up.

Slightly better than what?  Business are feeling slightly better about the ACA then they used to be? Yes, it's true, it certainly could have been worse.

It's time to give up cherry-picking articles to post here and serve as puff pieces for a monster of legislation that has real benefits but nonetheless is deeply, severely flawed.  People who actually run small businesses tend not to be so enthusiastic (left-wing lobbying group Small Business Majority notwithstanding).

 
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Frodo
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« Reply #4 on: November 17, 2014, 12:08:28 AM »

What is so left-wing about Small Business Majority? 
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shua
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« Reply #5 on: November 17, 2014, 01:00:31 PM »

What is so left-wing about Small Business Majority? 

They advocate higher taxes and minimum wage and are cheerleaders for the ACA. The entire reason for their existence is to be a left-wing alternative to NFIB - the main difference being NFIB has members.
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King
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« Reply #6 on: November 17, 2014, 01:24:14 PM »

The tax policy page of their website only advocates for a flat corporate tax and penalties against the use of tax havens. That is in-line with a mainstream conservative agenda.
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Beet
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« Reply #7 on: November 17, 2014, 01:30:26 PM »
« Edited: November 17, 2014, 01:32:39 PM by Beet »

What are they counting as a small business? I don't understand why ACA would make things harder for small business (if this is accurate) when the employer mandate doesn't even apply to businesses below 50 employees. Before, small businesses either had to offer expensive health insurance plans to employees, or compete at a disadvantage on the job market compared to large companies offering full benefits. Now, at least employees who don't receive health insurance at work can receive subsidies to buy on the individual market if they make below a certain amount.
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AggregateDemand
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« Reply #8 on: November 17, 2014, 01:48:37 PM »

Recession puts brakes on healthcare costs. Democrats take credit, while injecting needless uncertainty and risk into the economy.

Thanks for insuring the domestic tranquility.
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King
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« Reply #9 on: November 17, 2014, 02:18:56 PM »

Recession puts brakes on healthcare costs. Democrats take credit, while injecting needless uncertainty and risk into the economy.

Thanks for insuring the domestic tranquility.

One week ago you said the increase in healthcare coverage is being caused by the recovery putting more people back into the workforce. Now you're saying simultaneously there is a continued recession driving down costs. At least be consistent.
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AggregateDemand
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« Reply #10 on: November 17, 2014, 02:29:59 PM »

One week ago you said the increase in healthcare coverage is being caused by the recovery putting more people back into the workforce. Now you're saying simultaneously there is a continued recession driving down costs. At least be consistent.

Point of reference is kind of important for relative measures. For coverage rates, the point of reference was the unemployment apex. This article, on the other hand, is comparing healthcare cost growth rates to cost growth rates before the recession.

Latent political hypocrisy everywhere, and you incorrectly identify one of the few non-hypocrites as the biggest hypocrite. I weep for America.
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King
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« Reply #11 on: November 17, 2014, 03:00:24 PM »

lol
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shua
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« Reply #12 on: November 17, 2014, 03:27:17 PM »

What are they counting as a small business? I don't understand why ACA would make things harder for small business (if this is accurate) when the employer mandate doesn't even apply to businesses below 50 employees. Before, small businesses either had to offer expensive health insurance plans to employees, or compete at a disadvantage on the job market compared to large companies offering full benefits. Now, at least employees who don't receive health insurance at work can receive subsidies to buy on the individual market if they make below a certain amount.

There's no single standard for what qualifies as a small business, but it's true that those with less than 50 full-time employees (though this can actually be complicated thing for a business to determine if it qualifies given how its defined) do not have the mandate to supply health insurance coverage.  However, a lot of small businesses want to provide this coverage, and it is an advantage to attracting employees regardless of whether there is an individual exchange or not.  They want to continue offering similar plans to what they have been offering, which can be difficult under the new prices and new structures. In that link you provided you can see that businesses that do choose to offer health insurance have a lot of new things the are required to comply with. For example, they can't have a long waiting period for a new employee before that employee is offered health insurance. It's all much more of an all-or-nothing proposition. Businesses never like spending a lot of time and effort and money trying to figure out if they are in compliance with a new law.   Besides, small businesses often do like to expand and hire more people, but the fiscal cliff that could occur if they expand to more than 49 employees makes this more difficult.
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King
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« Reply #13 on: November 17, 2014, 03:38:34 PM »
« Edited: November 17, 2014, 03:44:10 PM by King »

Personally, I consider a small business to be any company that doesn't have a human resources manager. Once you hire someone whose job is to hire someone, you become a midsize operation. The difference between midsize and large business is then whether or not tax accounting is in-house.

By this definition. the very existence of an exchange is helpful to small business, regardless of the price point. The greatest burden government can place on small business is not financial but paperwork. This is why available tax credits in small business are so rarely taken advantage. Small business rarely have the time to decipher the legality of what they are entitled under the law. The healthcare exchange program simplifies decision making for the entrepreneurial small businessman. This is why tax simplification, patent simplification, and all other simplification efforts are helpful regardless of what the tax rate would be or what fees would be.

People gladly pay for convenience. A more convenient government could get away with collecting more tax dollars.
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badgate
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« Reply #14 on: November 17, 2014, 04:38:38 PM »

You know, I find it really pathetic that there are people in this country, especially elected officials, who intentionally amped up anxiety, confusion, and disinformation about the ACA simply because they didn't like it and wanted to see it fail.

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shua
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« Reply #15 on: November 17, 2014, 06:22:49 PM »

Personally, I consider a small business to be any company that doesn't have a human resources manager. Once you hire someone whose job is to hire someone, you become a midsize operation. The difference between midsize and large business is then whether or not tax accounting is in-house.

By this definition. the very existence of an exchange is helpful to small business, regardless of the price point. The greatest burden government can place on small business is not financial but paperwork. This is why available tax credits in small business are so rarely taken advantage. Small business rarely have the time to decipher the legality of what they are entitled under the law. The healthcare exchange program simplifies decision making for the entrepreneurial small businessman. This is why tax simplification, patent simplification, and all other simplification efforts are helpful regardless of what the tax rate would be or what fees would be.

People gladly pay for convenience. A more convenient government could get away with collecting more tax dollars.

That's certainly true as a general rule.  We'll see if any more small businesses use the exchanges this next year than the very small number that did this past year.  For it to truly be a convenient alternative, there will need to be both a good variety of plans on the exchange in each state, and  some confidence that the information provided on the exchanges really tell someone most of what they need to know to evaluate the plans.
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« Reply #16 on: November 18, 2014, 08:11:26 AM »

Yes, only 72% cite it as a major concern, as opposed to 74% earlier this year. It's obviously not a major problem anymore.

In 2013, Republicans were guaranteeing that Obamacare would lead to a second Great Depression. Now their argument is "Bbbbut Obamacare is only making things slightly better."

It's time to give it up.

Slightly better than what?  Business are feeling slightly better about the ACA then they used to be? Yes, it's true, it certainly could have been worse.

It's time to give up cherry-picking articles to post here and serve as puff pieces for a monster of legislation that has real benefits but nonetheless is deeply, severely flawed.  People who actually run small businesses tend not to be so enthusiastic (left-wing lobbying group Small Business Majority notwithstanding).

 

It seems pretty rich to talk about cherry-picking sources and then post a context-free photo, without a link, that supports your side of the argument.
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King
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« Reply #17 on: November 18, 2014, 10:43:28 AM »

It also says a lot about that chart that so many people are confident in saying it's making running a small business harder yet a solid majority are blissfully unaware of the tax credit opportunities or know anything about the law. It's just complete propaganda. I seriously doubt many of that 75% who said it's making their lives harder are going on actual experience and not hearsay.
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Landslide Lyndon
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« Reply #18 on: November 18, 2014, 11:23:24 AM »

One week ago you said the increase in healthcare coverage is being caused by the recovery putting more people back into the workforce. Now you're saying simultaneously there is a continued recession driving down costs. At least be consistent.

Point of reference is kind of important for relative measures. For coverage rates, the point of reference was the unemployment apex. This article, on the other hand, is comparing healthcare cost growth rates to cost growth rates before the recession.

Latent political hypocrisy everywhere, and you incorrectly identify one of the few non-hypocrites as the biggest hypocrite. I weep for America.

Is this guy real or some Democratic sock like CoburnIn2012?
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AggregateDemand
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« Reply #19 on: November 18, 2014, 12:40:04 PM »

Is this guy real or some Democratic sock like CoburnIn2012?

You idolize a man who believed entitlements should exist primarily to make segregationist Democrats marketable to minorities.

You don't have sufficient authority to challenge the existential validity of plague-infested rats.
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King
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« Reply #20 on: November 18, 2014, 12:53:43 PM »

So, Coburnin2016, then?
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shua
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« Reply #21 on: November 18, 2014, 04:39:35 PM »

It seems pretty rich to talk about cherry-picking sources and then post a context-free photo, without a link, that supports your side of the argument.
Yes, I provide some evidence countervailing for the sake of balance, I'm not going to provide every single piece of information on this.  Between the words on the image, and the url location attached to the image, it's pretty easy to trace the source. Since you show a deep interest in this you probably have found it by now, but here it is anyway: http://www.chicagobusiness.com/article/20141115/ISSUE02/311159995/heres-why-chicago-small-business-owners-arent-satisfied-with-the


It also says a lot about that chart that so many people are confident in saying it's making running a small business harder yet a solid majority are blissfully unaware of the tax credit opportunities or know anything about the law. It's just complete propaganda. I seriously doubt many of that 75% who said it's making their lives harder are going on actual experience and not hearsay.

The tax credits are only available for plans on the exchange, so of course many employers are not going to take advantage of it if they believe those plans are not the best options. The credits expire after two years, so it may not make sense for most businesses to change their practices just for that.

Another advantage that we have not heard as much about is that small businesses no longer need to be concerned about insurers jacking up their rates because of a few employees with expensive-to-treat conditions. I wouldn't be surprised if most respondents to this poll were unaware of this.

It's true that this is an important advantage. The flip side is that those businesses with healthy employees have to pay more for insurance to pay for this.  CMMS estimated that the community rating provides a lower cost for about one-third of small business, and a higher cost for two-thirds (link)
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SteveRogers
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« Reply #22 on: November 18, 2014, 09:25:20 PM »

You don't have sufficient authority to challenge the existential validity of plague-infested rats.

This particular combination of words doesn't actually mean anything in the English language.
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