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Washington
–
U.S.
Senators
Tim
Scott
(R-SC)
and
Jeanne
Shaheen
(D-NH),
both
former
small
business
owners
and
members
of
the
Senate
Committee
on
Small
Business
and
Entrepreneurship,
today
applauded
the
House
of
Representatives
for
passing
the
Protecting
Affordable
Coverage
for
Employees
(PACE)
Act
(H.R.1624).
In
April,
Senators
Scott
and
Shaheen
(D-NH)
introduced
the
PACE
Act
(S.1099)
in
the
Senate,
and
have
since
been
building
momentum
to
address
this
issue
on
behalf
of
small
and
mid-sized
businesses,
their
employees
and
their
families.
The
PACE
Act,
which
currently
has
44
cosponsors
in
the
Senate, protects
America’s
small
businesses
from
potential
healthcare
premium
increases
under
the
Affordable
Care
Act
by
ensuring
the
federal
government
maintains
the
current
definition
of
a
small
group
market
as
1-50
employees.
It
also
gives
states
the
flexibility
to
expand
the
size
of
group
markets
if
the
conditions
in
their
state
necessitate
the
change.
“Today’s
vote
in
the
House
is
an
important
step
forward
in
stopping
small
and
mid-sized
businesses
in
South
Carolina
and
across the country
from
seeing
drastic
premium
increases
under
the
Affordable
Care
Act,” said
Scott.
“The
PACE
Act
will
help
prevent
negative
impacts
on
businesses
that
offer
health
care
to
employees
and
their
families.
I
will
continue
to
work
with
Senator
Shaheen
and
my
other
Senate
colleagues
to
move
this
important
measure
to
the
President’s
desk.”
“While
health
care
reform
continues
to
sharply
divide
Congress,
I’m
very
pleased
that
we’re
making
progress
to
improve
current
law
in
a
bipartisan
way,”
said
Shaheen.
“This
legislation
would
make
a
helpful
adjustment
to
the
Affordable
Care
Act
for
small
and
mid-size
businesses
in
the
Granite
State
by
limiting
potential
premium
increases
and
letting
the
states
determine
what’s
best
for
their
market.
Passage
in
the
House
is
a
big
step
forward
for
this
common
sense
proposal
and
I’m
optimistic
we
can
do
likewise
in
the
Senate.”
Currently
under
the
Affordable
Care
Act,
on
January
1,
2016,
the
definition
of
the
state
based
small
group
markets
is
scheduled
to
change
from
50
to
include
employers
with
up
to
100
employees.
This
change
would
require
many
small
and
mid-sized
businesses
to
be
subject
to
different
rating
rules
and
requirements,
with
the
potential
of
increasing
the
health
insurance
premiums
for
small
businesses,
their
employees
and
their
families.
According
to
a
recent report,
if
the
small
group
definition
moves
to
100,
premiums
could
increase
by
approximately
18
percent
for
a
majority
of
the
mid-sized
employers.
As
a
result,
many
employers
may
choose
to
self-insure
instead
of
remain
in
the
small
group
market
because
those
employers
will
no
longer
be
subject
to
the
various
requirements
of
the
small
group
market.
This
could
further
increase
the
premiums
for
those
left
in
the
newly
expanded
risk
pool.
The
PACE
Act is
backed
by
a
coalition
representing
small and
mid-sized
businesses,
including
the
U.S.
Chamber
of
Commerce,
the
National
Retail
Federation,
the
National
Restaurant
Association,
the
National
Federation
of
Independent
Business,
and
has
bipartisan
support
from
state
regulators
and
health
policy
experts.
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