HHS Seeks to End Small Business Enrollment on HealthCare.gov

This week, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced a proposal that would prevent small businesses from enrolling workers in health insurance plans through the Affordable Care Act (ACA) marketplace on HealthCare.gov.

The proposed plan would affect the Small Business Health Options Program (SHOP) starting in 2018. It would not impact employers in states that don’t use HealthCare.gov to sign employees up in the SHOP marketplaces.

The HHS pointed to low participation in the SHOP marketplace as the reasoning for the proposed changes. According to the HHS, out of the nearly 30 million small businesses in the country, fewer than 8,000—just 0.1%—of them currently participate in the federally facilitated SHOPs in 33 states, which cover less than 40,000 individuals nationwide.

The intention of the proposed rulemaking would be to change the way small employers and employees in SHOPs using HealthCare.gov enroll in SHOP plans that take effect on or after Jan. 1, 2018. Under the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid proposal, employers would enroll directly with an insurance company that offers SHOP plans or with the assistance of an agent or broker registered with the federally facilitated SHOP, instead of enrolling online at HealthCare.gov.

If the HHS plan is finalized, employers would still obtain a determination of eligibility by going to HealthCare.gov. Currently, some employers that purchase SHOP coverage are also able to access the Small Business Health Care Tax Credit. It is important to note that this option will still be available to small employers that purchase coverage under the new enrollment approach.

The CMS also said the changes it intends to propose for 2018 would reduce the burden on insurance companies, consumers and American taxpayers, and make SHOP plans more readily available to small businesses that need affordable health insurance options.

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