{"id":132546,"date":"2025-08-09T20:02:15","date_gmt":"2025-08-09T20:02:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/132546\/"},"modified":"2025-08-09T20:02:15","modified_gmt":"2025-08-09T20:02:15","slug":"nfib-vermont-small-businesses-need-better-healthcare-options","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/132546\/","title":{"rendered":"NFIB: Vermont Small Businesses Need Better Healthcare Options"},"content":{"rendered":"

BARRE, VT\u00a0(Aug.\u00a07, 2025)<\/strong> \u2013<\/strong> Ahead of the Green Mountain Care Board\u2019s decisions on premium increases in the individual and small group health insurance markets for 2026, the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) in Vermont is outlining steps that state policymakers can take to expand and improve health coverage options for small business owners and employees.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cFor nearly forty years, the cost of health insurance has been the number one small business problem in NFIB\u2019s surveys,\u201d said\u00a0NFIB Vermont State Director John Reynolds<\/strong>.\u00a0\u201cHealth coverage is a critical benefit for recruiting and retaining employees, and Vermont small businesses are falling further behind through no fault of their own. Policymakers in Montpelier must do more to expand health insurance options and opportunities on Main Street.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

In a new three-part series, NFIB Vermont examines the state\u2019s health insurance affordability problem from a small business perspective and offers three policy solutions to improve coverage options for small business owners and employees.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Part I: Why Are Health Insurance Prices Going Up Again?<\/a><\/p>\n

Part II: One No-Cost Way to Improve Small Business Coverage Options<\/a><\/p>\n

Part III: Proven Strategies to Lower Premiums and Improve Options<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

NFIB Vermont\u2019s policy recommendations include:<\/p>\n

\u2013 reducing unnecessary barriers to self-insurance for small employers<\/p>\n

\u2013 exploring a federal-state reinsurance partnership to reduce premiums<\/p>\n

\u2013 supporting small businesses with ICHRA tax credits. <\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cVermont lawmakers took some important steps this year to rein in the cost of health care,\u201d added Reynolds. <\/strong>\u201cThe new limits preventing hospitals from price gouging commercial insurance on drug prices is already paying dividends in the form of lower future premium increases. But it\u2019s clear more work is needed to increase the number of commercial insurance payers in the state, and that\u2019s what our policy recommendations aim to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

In June, Vermont legislators passed a law capping the markup<\/a> that hospitals can charge commercial payers for clinician-administered drugs at 120% of the average sales price. This change contributed to a decrease in requested individual and small group market premium increases for 2026. The state\u2019s largest insurer, Blue Cross and\u00a0Blue Shield of Vermont, has since reduced its premium increase requests to 15.4% in the individual market and 7.4% in the small group market.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Earlier this year, NFIB released a new paper, \u201cAddressing the Health Insurance Affordability Crisis for Small Businesses<\/a>,\u201d that outlines challenges facing and proposes solutions to help small employers.<\/p>\n

###<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

For over 80 years, NFIB has been advocating on behalf of America\u2019s small and independent business owners, both in Washington, D.C., and in all 50 state capitals. NFIB is nonprofit, nonpartisan, and member-driven. Since our founding in 1943, NFIB has been exclusively dedicated to small and independent businesses, and remains so today. For more information, please visit nfib.com.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BARRE, VT\u00a0(Aug.\u00a07, 2025) \u2013 Ahead of the Green Mountain Care Board\u2019s decisions on premium increases in the individual…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":132547,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[210,1141,1142,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-132546","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-health-care","8":"tag-health","9":"tag-health-care","10":"tag-healthcare","11":"tag-united-states","12":"tag-unitedstates","13":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115000596615889294","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132546","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=132546"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132546\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/132547"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=132546"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=132546"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=132546"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}