U.S. employers are facing the largest increase in health care expenditures in fifteen years. But for many Texas small businesses, the average expected increase would be welcome relief. That’s because they’re looking at rate increases nearly six percentage points higher than the national average.
According to the latest data from the Peterson-KFF Health System Tracker, filings in the small group market, which covers plans offered to small businesses through the Small Business Health Options Program (SHOP), state-based exchanges, or directly from insurers, indicate proposed premium increases of as much as 15.4% — that’s 12.5 percentage points higher than the current rate of inflation.
Texas is home to 3.5 million small businesses that employ 5.1 million Texans — nearly half of employees in the state. Earlier this year, Governor Abbott signed several new measures passed by the Texas Legislature to help bolster small business by lowering the cost of doing business in Texas.
But if we don’t address the relentless rising price of health care, it may not be enough. To keep the Texas economy strong, we must address the crushing weight of health care prices by increasing price transparency, prohibiting anti-competitive contracts and billing, and improving oversight of consolidations and mergers.