How would health reform affect small businesses?

As the Senate enters discussion regarding health-care reform following House passage of a bill, questions still abound about how such legislation would actually affect certain groups. With that in mind, Sabrina Shankman and Olga Pierce of ProPublica used results from a questionnaire from American Public Media’s Public Insight Network to determine its effect on small businesses and the uninsured, both prevalent in rural America.

While two major reform bills would require employers to provide some minimum insurance, small businesses would be exempt. What's a small business? It's defined in the House bill as one with fewer than 25 employees and an annual payroll of no more than $500,000. Senate bills have slightly varied definitions of small businesses, but each of the three offer tax credits to offset higher insurance premiums until more comprehensive reform goes into effect. Small businesses have the option in each bill to buy insurance through a health insurance exchange, but help won't arrive immediately in any bill. (Read more)

The House reform plan and the Senate Finance Committee plan would standardize Medicaid eligibility across states to 133 percent of the federal poverty line, which amounts to $19,378 for a family of two. The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee plan would expand it to 150 percent of the poverty line, still only $21,855. The uninsured would have the option to purchase insurance from a state-based pool of private plans, and the House and HELP committee proposals include a public plan. Low-income families would be eligible for subsidies to buy insurance through the exchange, but would face a hefty tax penalty for remaining uninsured. (Read more)