In 2025, just 51% of firms with 10 to 24 employees offered health benefits, while 97% of firms with at least 200 workers did so, according to KFF. Rising health costs may leave Main Street business owners facing increased difficulty attracting new employees and making key investments, experts warned the Daily Caller News Foundation.
“Sky-high and rapidly escalating health plan costs are a major problem for small businesses, which often run on razor-thin margins,” Job Creators Network Foundation president Elaine Parker told the DCNF. “These expenditures prevent small businesses from making productive investments in expansion, equipment, or personnel, reducing Main Street dynamism. As a result, more and more have no other choice but to drop health coverage entirely.”
“Policymakers must allow small businesses to group together in association health plans to negotiate better rates for care, share risk, and avoid costly Obamacare regulations,” Parker added. “[Association health plans (AHPs)] also offer more flexibility and choice, and they streamline expensive administrative functions. These savings would significantly reduce health plan costs for small businesses and their employees.”