Small businesses give PPACA exchanges mixed reviews

“They looked comparable to what I’m paying now, a little more expensive,” says Rodgers, office manager at Reputation Capital Media Services, a marketing firm based in Baton Rouge, La.

She’s not ready to sign up for coverage. She’ll meet with her company’s outside human resources adviser and review the options before making a decision by early November.

Members of the Small Business Majority are generally pleased by what they’ve seen, says John Arensmeyer, CEO of the advocacy group.

“The rates are a little better than they expected,” Arensmeyer says. “They’re not seeing costs go through the roof.”

Christina Rae is shopping for insurance for the one employee of her public relations firm, and saw prices on the New York exchange that ranged from $334 a month for a bronze plan to $550 a month for platinum coverage. She thought the price on the platinum plan was too high, but she expects to buy on the exchange.

“It comes down to what’s going to be covered. It’s not going to be worth giving her bronze coverage if it doesn’t give her everything she needs,” says Rae, owner of Buzz Creators, based in Valhalla, N.Y. “I expect we’ll end up in the middle.”

Unhappy
In Vermont, while many business owners like what they see on the exchange, others say the premiums are too high, says Robin Lunge, the state’s director of health care reform. She says the unhappy ones likely have had bare-bones insurance until now.

“They’ll now have better coverage, but it will increase their monthly costs,” she says.

Dr. Leo Lombardo was surprised to learn from the California exchange that he’s unlikely to get a break on insurance for employees he’ll soon hire for his clinic. Under the new law, employers can get a tax credit if the average salary they pay is under $50,000. Lombardo, whose practice is in Ventura, expects to pay salaries of $80,000 and more to his staffers, including a nurse and physician’s assistant.

“Without the additional tax credit, there’s no advantage in going to the exchange compared to going to an insurance company and buying a small business policy,” he says.

And many owners won’t buy on exchanges because they’re satisfied with plans they already have, says Todd McCracken, president of advocacy group National Small Business Association.

“Their intention is to keep doing what they’ve been doing.”

See also:

• Kentucky exchange enrolls 6,946
• Feds may let Mississippi run its small-group exchange
• Congress to use D.C. small-group exchange