Obamacare Will Hit Small Businesses With Higher Rates, Lower Benefits, Says Major Insurance Broker

The chairman of one of Maryland’s largest health insurance brokerage firms predicted small businesses would begin to feel the real effects of Obamacare when they get their renewal notices Jan. 1, which will bring higher rates and fewer benefits.

“We just got the rates last week – what the marketplace has not seen yet,” Frank Kelly, Jr., founder of Kelly and Associates Insurance Group, said in an interview. “I’ve seen the increases. Some are going to get decreases, but by far that’s the minority.”

Kelly said his firm ran the premium rates for every health insurance company that sells policies in the small group market, including Aetna, Kaiser Permanente and United Healthcare, for groups from two to 50 people. Kelly said he saw a 46% increase for a nine-person group, a 34% increase for a 31-person group, a 23% increase for a four-person group and a 32% for a one-person group.
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