Changes

Companies with between 50 to 99 employees are required to provide insurance, but the penalties imposed for not complying with the ACA requirements were delayed until 2016, while the penalty for companies with > 99 employees was delayed until 2015. Because of these delays it is not entirely possible to fully understand and analyze the exact effects of the ACA on small businesses that are required to provide health insurance to its employees.

The SHOP Marketplace or Exchange (Small Business Health Options Program, is a provision of the ACA designed to help small businesses get lower health insurance rates using group plans and also to claim tax credits. However the SHOP exchange did not open up to employers with less than 50 FTE until 2015 and only just opened up in 2016 to businesses with 100 FTE or less. A SHOP allows for some employer choice functions, thus, enabling employers to choose from a larger field of available coverage options for its employees [http://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc501935/m1/1/high_res_d/R43181_2015Jan15.pdf]. However, it is still unclear whether there is a financial advantage in using the SHOP exchanges, as insurers in the marketplace regardless will still be unable to charge premiums based on health status, and workers using the SHOP exchanges, will become ineligible for subsidies when they buy their own insurance [http://www.ncpa.org/pub/st356]. What the SHOP program does do, however, is offer small businesses increased buying power in the group-plan market (an advantage only larger firms used to possess), and the exchange also offers a simpler way to compare prices, coverage, and quality of plans [http://obamacarefacts.com/insurance-exchange/shop-exchange/].