Prairie State Wire

The National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) in Illinois has released a new policy paper titled "Addressing the Health Insurance Affordability Crisis for Small Businesses." The report highlights the challenges faced by small businesses in providing health insurance to their employees, describing the situation as unsustainable.

Noah Finley, NFIB Illinois State Director, commented on the issue: “Rising health insurance costs are a significant burden for small businesses. By expanding coverage mandates and limiting basic cost-sharing protections, Illinois legislators continue to make it more expensive for small businesses to provide health insurance to their employees. Main Street businesses lose. Their employees lose. We all lose.”

The report provides several key findings about the current state of the small-group insurance market:

- Enrollment in the small-group market has decreased from 15 million individuals in 2014 to 8.5 million in 2023, marking a 44% drop.

- Average premiums for single plans have increased by 120% over two decades, while family plan premiums have risen by 129% for firms with 50 or fewer employees.

- Only 30% of small businesses currently offer health insurance, down from nearly half in 2000.

- Ninety-eight percent of small businesses express concern about affording health insurance in the next five years.

- Small businesses spend nearly twice as much on health insurance compared to large firms; those with less than $600,000 in revenue allocate almost 12% of payroll on benefits versus 7% for firms earning over $2.4 million.

To address these issues, NFIB proposes several legislative measures:

- Protect employer-sponsored insurance

- Support small businesses with targeted health insurance tax credits

- Expand individual coverage health reimbursement arrangements (ICHRAs)

- Improve employer pooling arrangements

- Expand access to health savings accounts (HSAs)

- Protect access to stop-loss insurance for small businesses

- Expand affordable coverage options

- Eliminate one-size-fits-all mandates that increase premium costs and limit competition

- Promote price transparency and certainty

- Discourage hospital consolidation

- Reduce prescription drug prices through innovation

For more information, readers can view "Addressing the Health Insurance Affordability Crisis for Small Businesses."