Florida Is the Top State Where Small Businesses Get Health Insurance Through the Affordable Care Act

A couple million small business owners are taking advantage of health insurance plans through the Affordable Care Act as health care costs pummel entrepreneurs.

The Treasury Department on Wednesday released an analysis estimating that 3.3 million small business owners and self-employed workers within the 21-to-64 age bracket received ACA coverage at some point in 2022. That accounts for 28 percent of the marketplace for that cohort, according to the analysis, up from the 1.4 million entrepreneurs who were covered in 2014 when the ACA first entered marketplaces. 

In 2022, the state with the most entrepreneurs enrolled in an ACA plan was none other than Florida, with 618,590 people covered. Next was California, with 450,010 people covered, followed by Texas, with 423,790, then Georgia, with 168,070, and North Carolina, with 134,620. 

The data release prompted a victory claim from the Biden Administration. “[M]ore Americans have the freedom to start small businesses and chase their dreams – without having to worry about how they receive health insurance for their family,” the president said in a statement. “Congressional Republicans have a different vision and have voted more than 50 times to repeal the Affordable Care Act. Their agenda would strip millions of small business owners of their health coverage.”

The data tells you that entrepreneurs are apolitical when it comes to covering costs such as healthcare insurance. 

While 3.3 million businesses having coverage is no small number, it’s still not the choice for the roughly 33 million small businesses that operate within the country. In estimating coverage for small businesses and those who are self-employed, Treasury says it analyzed a 10 percent random sample of tax returns from 2022.

Analysis from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a research organization, released this year found that more than 6.2 million small business owners and self-employed workers received coverage “since the ACA’s major coverage provisions were implemented.” A Treasury spokesperson said that data analysis beyond 2022 was not available at this time. 

Treasury’s analysis arrives the same day as U.S. Senators Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH)–who also Chairs the Senate Small Business Committee-and Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) introduced a bill to codify tax credits that would lower ACA plan costs. High costs of health insurance have long been a thorn in the side of small businesses–and even ACA premiums faced double-digit hikes just last year. 

If your company has more than 50 employees, you’re likely already familiar with the ACA, since the law dictates that you’d be subjected to penalties for not offering a health plan to workers.Although businesses with fewer than 50 workers aren’t required to offer workers a health plan, they can enroll in what’s known as SHOP, or the small business health options program. Some states like Colorado and New York allow businesses with less than 100 full-time workers to buy SHOP plans as well.

Using insurance agents or brokers is one option to find a specific SHOP plan, but businesses can also contact insurers directly and research plans themselves on HealthCare.gov. Once enrolled in SHOP coverage, there’s also the opportunity to tap into the small business health care tax credit, which is offered to those with up to 25 full-time workers that, on average, are banking a salary of up to $56,000 a year.