The lack of national action to control the Covid-19 pandemic and an ill-advised push from the top of the federal government to reopen as quickly as possible without a national plan to do so safely is shaking our institutions to their core. Small business owners and their employees are hurting, schools are hurting and now our healthcare system is failing to offer coverage to millions at the worst possible time. 

Our current system clearly does not offer healthcare security. The time for nibbling around the margins on healthcare reform is long past. We need changes that ensure small business owners can afford to offer employees quality health insurance and Americans can get coverage regardless of employment status. This study shows we are falling far short of those goals.

Policymakers must strengthen the Affordable Care Act and create a public option for those who choose. We need states that have not expanded Medicaid to do so immediately. And we need the Trump Administration to drop its Supreme Court challenge to the ACA. Small businesses already struggle with healthcare costs and with an estimated 31 million people uncovered, healthcare costs will soar as more and more uninsured people visit emergency rooms during the pandemic. 

Healthcare is already a crushing burden for small business owners. An online survey of 1,211 small businesses in Small Business for America’s Future’s network shows that 71% of small business owners say lowering healthcare costs should be a top priority for policymakers, 67% support strengthening the ACA, and 57% oppose repealing it. 

Small business owners and their employees need action. Will our policymakers listen?