State-Run Small Business Health Options Programs: An Update Three Years Post ACA Implementation
<p>The Affordable Care Act (ACA) created the Small Business Health Options Program (SHOP) to make it easier for small-business owners and their employees to shop for and compare plan options online. Today, 17 states and the District of Columbia operate a state-run SHOP alongside an individual insurance marketplace, and the remaining states use the federally facilitated SHOP. </p><p>In a new <em>To the Point</em>, Emily Curran, Sabrina Corlette, and Kevin Lucia of Georgetown University Health Policy Institute's Center on Health Insurance Reforms report on insurer participation in the SHOPs, enrollment, and use of the online portals.</p>
<p>The authors note that states continue to face challenges in convincing small employers and their brokers that the program offers value not available elsewhere. More information about tax credit uptake and enrollment through the federally run SHOPs would help policymakers and states make a fair assessment of the benefits the SHOPs provide, they say. </p>