Small Business Group Urges Federal Court to Uphold Key Provisions of the Affordable Care Act

For Immediate Release: 
Thursday, June 14, 2018

Statement by John Arensmeyer, Founder & CEO of Small Business Majority, on an amicus brief filed today asking the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas to reject a legal challenge to the Affordable Care Act

 

Small Business Majority filed an amicus brief today urging the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas to uphold the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), which is being challenged in Texas v. United States. Although the ACA’s individual mandate penalty has been repealed, we believe the healthcare law’s remaining components must be upheld in full because the ACA is critical to the success of small businesses, solo entrepreneurs and their employees.  

The ACA has provided quality, affordable health coverage to numerous small firms that once struggled to access health insurance. Prior to the enactment of the healthcare law, small businesses and their employees represented a disproportionate share of uninsured workers, and small business owners paid 18 percent more on average for coverage than their big business counterparts.

Since 2010, however, the growth in small business healthcare costs slowed dramatically, following regular double-digit increases prior to the law’s enactment. And because the law makes it much easier for the self-employed to obtain their own coverage, many more aspiring entrepreneurs have escaped “job lock” and been willing to go out on their own to start new ventures.

What’s more, the law has enabled most states to expand their Medicaid programs, allowing low-income small business employees to obtain health coverage.

Undoing the ACA, however, would erase these hard-won benefits for America’s entrepreneurs, cause a rapid rise in healthcare costs and create substantial economic instability. For the good of America’s job creators, the constitutionality of the ACA must be upheld.

 

About Small Business Majority
Small Business Majority was founded and is run by small business owners to ensure America’s entrepreneurs are a key part of a thriving and inclusive economy. We actively engage our network of more than 58,000 small business owners in support of public policy solutions and deliver information and resources to entrepreneurs that promote small business growth. 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. Learn more about us on our website and follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

Press State: 
National