Poll: Health Care Costs Posing Challenges for Many Small Businesses
Fifty-four percent of small business owners list health care costs as the primary challenge hindering their business operations, according to a Gallup poll released Friday, The Hill's "Healthwatch" reports.Â
The poll also found that 61% of small business owners list health care costs as the reason they are not hiring new employees, the fourth-leading reason businesses are not hiring.Â
Gallup said, "These worries are likely tied -- at least in part -- to the implementation of the Affordable Care Act and its potential impact."
According to "Healthwatch," some small businesses -- especially franchise owners -- have cut their employees' hours to avoid complying with the ACA's employer mandate.
The National Federation of Independent Business, which represents small businesses, has been a leading critic of the ACA and was one of the plaintiffs in a lawsuit seeking to overturn the law's individual mandate (Baker, "Healthwatch,"Â The Hill, 1/25).Â
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