Tuesday, July 16, 2013

Survey: Two-Thirds of Small Businesses Aren't Ready for ObamaCare

Less than a third of small businesses say they’re prepared for the regulatory mandates under ObamaCare, a new survey from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce found.

The business lobby's quarterly survey of small firms found a concerns over the law have increased by a double-digit margin over the last year, and by four percentage points since the first three months on 2013.

“Excessive regulation is having a crippling effect on job growth among small businesses, as our latest small business survey makes clear,” said Rob Engstrom, the Chamber’s senior vice president. “In fact, the only thing that scares small businesses more than the current business climate is what Washington bureaucrats will do next.”

Full story from The Hill

More from the survey (summarized by John Goodman, link): 
  • Among small businesses that will be impacted by the employer mandate, one-half say that they will either cut hours to reduce full time employees or replace full time employees with part-timers to avoid the mandate. Twenty-four percent say they will reduce hiring to stay under 50 employees.
  • Seventy-one percent of small businesses say the health care law makes it harder to hire.
  • Only 30 percent say they are prepared for the requirements of the law, including participation in the marketplaces, and one-quarter say they are unaware of what is required.