A study conducted by the Center for Healthcare Research and Transformation revealed that the number of small businesses offering health insurance in Michigan dropped between 2013 and 2014, from 40% to 33% respectively.
The reported decline comes as a surprise, despite the 2.8% average annual increase in health insurance premiums from 2009-2014 for small businesses.
Fewer companies composed of 50 to 99 employees also offered health insurance in 2014 at 84%, down from 93% in 2013, the report pointed out.
"We don't think this is because of the Affordable Care Act," said Center for Healthcare Research and Transformation executive director Marianne Udow-Phillips.
Udow-Phillips added that the percentage “is back to historical trends,” explaining that the decline in 2014 represented a return to the state’s typical rate. The national average rate for the same period of time was at 32%. In comparison, she noted that 90% of larger companies in the state offer health insurance.
"[2013] showed a surprising blip, an anomaly, where we saw an increase in small firms offering health insurance [to 40 percent of companies],” Udow-Phillips remarked.
The Congressional Budget Office has anticipated that over the next ten or so years, the ACA would effect a 4% reduction in employer-sponsored coverage. Udow-Phillips, however, said that the ACA has yet to create significant decreases of any sort in Michigan. She also remarked that health insurance rate increases for businesses in the state are below the national averages.
