How did the ACA affect small businesses?

Under the ACA, or Obamacare, businesses with fewer than 50 workers are not required to provide employees with health insurance. Some do anyway, but as insurance prices have climbed, the percentage of small businesses offering coverage has dropped in recent years. In 2010, 66 percent of firms with three to 49 employees offered health coverage; by last year, that figure had fallen to 50 percent, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. Trump administration officials blame Obamacare mandates for rising rates: Under the ACA, plans must offer at least 10 essential benefits. Critics of the administration’s new rules say they are part of a concerted effort to undermine the ACA and will result in substandard coverage for millions.