Small Business Group: 'Employees to Lose Coverage Under ObamaCare'

WASHINGTON -- Today, Karen Kerrigan, President & CEO of the Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council (SBE Council) issued the following statement regarding new regulations from the Obama Administration that outline how existing health plans will be forced to change under the Patient Protection & Affordable Care Act (PPACA), and how this impacts health coverage for small businesses:

"Basic common sense made clear that ObamaCare would present major cost problems and lost insurance coverage and choices for small businesses and their employees. While the President and his supporters denied or ignored these facts during the debate over health care legislation, now internal administration documents confirm reality. Up to 80% of all small businesses may be forced to switch health care plans in order to conform to government requirements. This is staggering, and we anticipate that the costs of these plans will be much higher given the vast array of new requirements that are required by the new health care law.

"The bottom line is clear and was predictable during the debate over ObamaCare: Insurance costs will rise for small businesses, innovative choices will be eliminated, and many individuals will lose their employer-based coverage. That's the economic reality, which flies directly in the face of what President Obama and congressional leaders promised."

The SBE Council is a nonpartisan, nonprofit small business advocacy group that works to protect small business and promote entrepreneurship. For more information, please visit: www.sbecouncil.org.