HELENA – While U.S. Senate Republicans’ plan to repeal “Obamacare” has been criticized for potentially undercutting coverage for thousands of low-income Montanans, at least one group is firmly behind it: The state’s primary lobby for small businesses.
“What we’re looking for is a health-care system that is affordable, flexible and predictable,” says Riley Johnson, state director for the National Federation of Independent Business. “In our opinion, the ACA (Affordable Care Act) has not done this for us, so let’s take a look at something else.”
In an interview with MTN News Thursday, Johnson said ACA requirements have made employee health insurance unaffordable for many small-business owners.
Many of those businesses have dropped small-group employee coverage, because they can’t afford it – and that absence also makes it more difficult to recruit and retain workers, he said.