As the time approaches for the Obama Affordable Care Act to come into effect companies and small business are finding ways to sidestep the health care laws and make it work for their small business.
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Today in Small Business: The Business Lessons of Walter White
What’s affecting me, my clients and other small-business owners today.
The Economy
- The Fed continues its stimulus and companies from Apple to Verizon Communications are saving about $700 billion in interest payments.
- The Congressional Budget Office says that deficits are falling now but warns of trouble ahead.
- The United States added 16,160 franchise jobs in August, according to a new report.
- Conditions strengthened in the latest Architecture Billings Index, and builders started work in August on the most single-family homes in six months.
- FedEx reported a 7 percent rise in quarterly profits.
- Chief executives were less optimistic about the economy in the third quarter.
Small Business Administration Closure Plan Will Be Deceptive and Devastating
I predicted President Obama would try and close the Small Business Administration (SBA) by combining it with the Department of Commerce in November of 2008. He proved me right in January of 2012 when he announced his plan to do exactly that.
When Ronald Reagan was very clear he wanted to permanently CLOSE the SBA his plan was to combine it with the Department of Commerce. Combining agencies, particularly with the Department of Commerce, is an old Washington trick to close an agency without having to deal with public backlash.
President Obama said the federal government could save $300 million a year by combing the SBA with the Department of Commerce. He never gave any details on how that would be achieved. $300 million to the federal budget is like the change in your car compared to your overall net worth.
Small Businesses Temporarily Sidestep Health Law
Many small businesses have found a way to temporarily sidestep some of the headaches brought on by the new health care law.
One of them is Huber Capital Management. The asset management firm is renewing its health insurance policy early, in 2013 instead of 2014. By renewing its policy this year, the company doesn’t have to buy insurance that conforms to the requirements of the new health care law. And it won’t have the surge in premium rates expected under the Affordable Care Act.
“We can just push this whole thing off and defer it for essentially one year,” says Gary Thomas, chief operating officer of El Segundo, Calif.-based Huber Capital, which has nine employees covered by insurance.
