Obamacare Small Business Revision Approved by Senate & House

The Senate passed legislation on Thursday intended to protect small and midsize businesses from increases in health insurance premiums, clearing the bill for President Obama’s expected signature.

The action by Congress was a rare example of bipartisan agreement on how to revise the Affordable Care Act.

The bill, approved this week in the House and the Senate by voice vote, eliminates a provision of the law that would have imposed tough, potentially costly new requirements on businesses with 51 to 100 employees.

A White House spokeswoman confirmed that Mr. Obama would sign the bill, but she declined to discuss its substance. Recent comments by administration officials suggested that they did not particularly like the legislation but could not stop the growing wave of bipartisan support for it.

At issue is a provision of the health care law that expands the definition of a “small employer” to include companies with 51 to 100 employees, subjecting them to stringent insurance regulation starting Jan. 1. States have historically defined small employers as those with 50 or fewer employees.

The bill preserves the traditional definition of “small group,” but allows states to expand it to include organizations with 51 to 100 employees if they want to do so.