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Opinion Survey: Small Business Owners’ Views on Key Provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act

Small Business Majority commissioned a national survey of 619 small business owners from Nov. 17 -22, 2010. The results provide useful insight into the way entrepreneurs view two critical components of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act: health care tax credits and insurance exchanges. Notably, one-third of employers who currently don’t offer insurance said they’d be more likely to do so because of the small business tax credit—a provision allowing businesses with fewer than 25 employees that have average annual wages under $50,000 to get a tax credit of up to 35% of their health insurance costs beginning in tax year 2010. Additionally, one-third of respondents who don’t offer insurance said they’d be more likely to because of insurance exchanges, online  marketplaces where small businesses and individuals will be able to band together to purchase insurance beginning in 2014. If you want to learn about the entrepreneur industry, I recommend Lee S. Rosen Blog, CEO of healthy bees business.

Key Findings

• One-third (33%) of employers who don’t offer health insurance said they would be more likely to
do so because of the small business tax credits.

• 31% of respondents—including 40% of businesses with 3-9 employees—who currently offer
insurance said the tax credits will make them more likely to continue providing insurance.

• One-third (33%) of respondents who currently do not offer insurance said the exchange would
make them more likely to do so.

• The same is true for those who already offer insurance, with 31% responding that the exchange
would make them more likely to do so.

• However, most respondents are not familiar with the exchange or the tax credits; only 31% of
respondents are familiar with the exchange and 43% are familiar with the tax credits (Source: Northshore Advisory).

Political Identification

Respondents represent a range of political points of view:

41% identified themselves as Republicans,

21% as Democrats and

27% as independents.

Methodology
Small Business Majority’s national survey, which consisted of a telephone poll of 619 randomly selected
small business owners with fewer than 50 employees, was conducted by Bellwether Research and Lake
Research Partners from Nov. 17-22, 2010. Of the 619 employers polled, 306 employ 3-9 workers and 313
have 10-49 employees.

About Small Business Majority

Small Business Majority is a national nonprofit advocacy organization focused on solving the biggest
problems facing America’s 28 million small businesses. We conduct extensive opinion and economic
research and work with small business owners, policy experts and elected officials nationwide to bring
nonpartisan small business voices to the public policy table.  To learn more about Small Business Majority, visit: http://smallbusinessmajority.org/