More Small Businesses Offering Health Insurance

http://slatest.slate.com/id/2273377/?wpisrc=newsletter

Even though many small businesses remain opposed to the health-care law, the number that will start offering health insurance to employees is expected to "increase sharply" by the end of year, the Wall Street Journal reports. While only 46 percent of companies with between three and nine employees offered health care last year, this has already increased to 59 percent, a Kaiser Family Foundation survey found in September. And it's expected to go up. With insurance premiums on the rise, the Journal says that many companies have embraced the new tax credit system to partly cover the costs of higher deductibles. Under the law, businesses with fewer than ten workers who earn less than $25,000 are eligible for full tax credit, while companies with more employees are allotted credit on a sliding scale. Although the White House estimates that 4 million people will eventually get insurance through the plan, the National Federation of Independent Business guesses that it will be closer to 2 million, and has filed suit with 20 states to overturn the law.