Small Businesses and Health Care Repeal

It is undeniable that small businesses are the engine of our economy, and in these difficult times there is no better way to promote immediate growth than to facilitate their success and foster greater entrepreneurship. But small businesses often struggle to afford the cost of providing health benefits to their employees. Only 45 percent of small businesses can afford to provide health insurance and their costs keep skyrocketing - since 2000 costs have increased by 129 percent. Sixty percent of the nation's uninsured - 28 million people - are small business owners, workers, or their families.

Clearly small businesses need and deserve a break. The Affordable Care Act, our nation's health care reform law, provides just such relief. The law provides small businesses with $40 billion in new tax breaks known as the Small Business Health Care Tax Credit. The Small Business Health Care Tax Credit is available for the 2010 tax year and is aimed at leveling the playing field and making health insurance more affordable for small businesses. If a business has fewer than 25 employees, has average annual wages below $50,000, and pays at least 50 percent of the employees' health coverage, that business could receive a tax credit covering up to 35 percent of their health care costs. The tax credit would grow to 50 percent in 2014.

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