For Immediate Release:
Contact: Kelly Broadway, 202-808-8853
Washington, D.C. (April 29, 2022) – The Council for Affordable Health Coverage (CAHC) presented yesterday, April 28, before Republican members of the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Education and Labor about the future of health care.
“Inflation is hitting small businesses hard, raising costs, and forcing tough choices between paying higher salaries and offering affordable health coverage. Unfortunately, the result is more uninsured, or more people on Obamacare with higher deductibles, or more people on Medicaid with higher taxpayer costs. Lawmakers should put partisanship aside and commit to helping small businesses better afford to provide coverage for their workers,” said Joel White, President of CAHC.
Recent polling by CAHC highlights the desire for low-cost, private sector solutions. Voters are craving policies that provide more cost-efficient pathways to care, such as:
- Reforming and expanding the existing small business tax credit, which only small businesses with less than 50 employees can access. CAHC supports allowing companies with 200 or fewer employees to qualify – a solution that would benefit millions of Americans.
- Allowing small business employees to access tax credits to pay for out-of-pocket health costs. Deductibles and cost sharing are through the roof. Workers need more help to pay for their prescriptions and doctor visits.
- Allowing small businesses to self-insure just like large employers.
- Creating a small business high risk pool to lower premiums market wide.
- New gig worker HSAs to help part time employees obtain affordable coverage.
Additionally, people want expanded use of their health care savings accounts (HSA). Lawmakers need to update rules to include first dollar use for specific items, including telehealth and chronic medications, allow any enrollee in a plan that pays at least 60 cents of every premium dollar on health care to enroll in an HSA, and permanently authorize individual coverage health reimbursement arrangements. These are easy to implement solutions that will have an immediate impact on families across the country.