Many employees of businesses too small to offer group health insurance plans are facing a financial crunch as Affordable Care Act costs are set to go up. David Overfelt, President of the Missouri Retailers Association, said the recent government shutdown highlighted the high price tag workers face who don’t have the option of employer-provided group health coverage, which will be even higher if Affordable Care Act tax credits are not renewed by Congress.
“I think you’re gonna find a lot of people having to make a lot of hard economic decisions,” Overfelt told Missourinet. “You’re talking about taking insurance from, I don’t know, (a) guess of $750 per individual to $1500 per month, and plus.”
He also said he hopes that lawmakers would understand the huge burden on a lot of small businesses and their employees.
“Especially ones with pre-existing conditions and old and older ones, that are basically in that donut between 60 and 65 (years old),” Overfelt said.
Discussions in the U.S. House on renewing Affordable Care Act subsidies are underway, but there is no guarantee that they will pass. Agreements to hold renewal votes led to the breakthrough in the U.S. Senate that ended the recent federal government shutdown.
“I don’t believe that many lawmakers understand how many small businessmen and women who cannot find regular insurance today,” Overfelt said. “It’s just not available if you can’t get in a, say, a pool.”
But he said even insurance pools are denying coverage for such things as age and pre-existing conditions.
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