Perhaps not a shocking fact to many U.S. small business owners, but more a confirmation of the current trends: The latest small business outlook survey from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce reveals that 49 percent of small business owners (over 1,300 respondents) said that Obamacare is their greatest concern.
The figure is up by 10 percent from last year outlook – and we can logically predict what will happen in 2014, approaching the bill’s effective date, January 2015.
As reported by the Free Enterprise, Obamacare is significantly growing in unpopularity among small business owners. The number one reason is the fact that the health care law will make health coverage more expenses (79 percent of respondents vouch for this.)
Half of the survey respondents say that they will take 2 paths in responding to the health care bill:
- Cut work hours to reduce full-time employees
- Reduce the number of full-time employees or replace them with part-time employees to avoid paying expensive health care coverage.
Not stopping there, one quarter of surveyed small business owners decided to stop – or at least slowing down in – hiring new employees to keep their businesses to stay under the 50-employee threshold, as required in the health care law.
The above is not helping with U.S. employment, clearly, as 61 percent of respondents say that they won’t hire next year.
Here’s the accompanying infographic to visualize the survey results:
Obamacare – opinions from the web
To gauge what people think of Obamacare, here are some recent opinions and tips from the web…
The Devastating Obamacare Tax On Low Income Workers At Large Firms
Obamacare levies a grossly unfair tax on workers in large firms—a tax that is particularly unfair since it hits those with the lowest wages hardest.
N.Y.: Individual health insurance 50% cheaper under Obamacare
Amid a House debate to repeal mandates in the Affordable Care Act, the White House Wednesday boasted about Obamacare’s projected cost-reducing effect for New Yorkers purchasing their own health insurance.
The entire economy and a vast number of businesses are impacted by Obamacare. Here’s Tom Searcy’s take on how those in the healthcare industry and beyond will be affected.
Five Things Small Business Owners Need To Do To Prepare For Obamacare
The remaining provisions of the Affordable Care Act will soon be enacted but many small business owners are so confused about the many provisions that they don’t know where to begin. The following tips from Johnny Laurent, Vice President and General Manager of Sage Employer Solutions, are designed to eliminate some of the guesswork and give small business owners a starting point.
How about you – what do you think of Obamacare? What should small business owners do to get prepared for Obamacare? Please share your (non-political) opinions…
Photo credit: Andy
