This week, President Obama signed H.R. 1624, the “Protecting Affordable Coverage for Employees Act,” into law. The law had previously been passed in the U.S. Senate by unanimous consent and in the House of Representatives by voice vote.

Starting in 2016, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) was scheduled to expand the definition of the small group market to include all employers with 1-100 employees—adding employers in the 51-100 employee category. An analysis from actuarial firm Oliver Wyman estimates that this expansion would have resulted in premium increases for nearly two-thirds of workers in small to midsize firms in 2016.

The new law will protect small to midsized employers and employees at those firms from significant premium increases by redefining “small employer” under the ACA as one with 50 or fewer employees, and giving states the option to expand the definition to include employers with up to 100 employees.

The legislation has been a top issue for the association. Earlier this year, the Big “I” joined the 50-100 Coalition, a group of business organizations advocating for passage of this important legislation. The mission of the coalition was to protect businesses and employees by giving states the flexibility to determine what constitutes a small group market so businesses can maintain their current health care plans.

Enactment of this legislation is critically important in preventing small to midsize businesses from experiencing significant premium increases and marks an important improvement for independent agents and their consumers. The Big “I” is grateful that this legislation passed both chambers of Congress with such strong bipartisan support and that the President has signed this important legislation into law.

Wyatt Stewart is Big “I” director of federal government affairs.