Ninety-one percent of small businesses surveyed by the National Small Business Assn. (NSBA) were hit with cost increases during their most recent health insurance renewal. Twenty-five percent were hit with increases exceeding 20%. NSBA President Todd McCracken said, “These costs have real-world implications: one-third of small businesses held off on hiring a new employee and more than half say they held off on salary increases for employees.”
While the majority of employers say that offering health insurance is very important to recruiting good employees, just 51% of the smallest firms offer health benefits. Among the 70% of small firms that offer health insurance, the majority pay for more than half of the cost of their employees’ plans.
The average monthly per-employee cost of health insurance premiums for a small firm is $1,121 compared to just $590 in 2009. Small businesses spend an average of 13 hours and $1,274a month on the administrative side of understanding the Affordable Care Act. For more information, visitwww.nsba.biz
