I apologize if I mistook your post as political in nature. But given your other post, I hardly feel like I was being unreasonable.
From what I have read, the only change relevant to the business owner is instead of group rates being based on your pool of employees, your rates will be based on a much larger pool of many small businesses. You will get a better price, in other words, as the insurer can spread the risk across a larger number of premium-paying insureds.
A factor that may complicate the "lower rates" assertion is that coverage can no longer be denied. For instance, if you hire an employee that has had long-term issues with heart disease, the insurer cannot flatly refuse to insure that person for any price. On the one hand, having them in a pool of insured workers drives up the total cost to the insurer and hence increases everyone's premiums. But on the other hand, the motivation for large pools is to spread the risk among lots of premium-paying insureds. This won't change, so the rate paid by the members of the pool will have minimal change.
Currently, a small business pays more per member for insurance than a large corporation because their pool is smaller. The creation of larger pools means that the actual rate for most people working for a small company will decrease. In addition, the new tax credit granted will offset the cost. I can't really see a situation where an individual would be better off under the current system than the newly proposed one. The employer contribution will be smaller per employee as a result, so even employers benefit.
In short, this is a great thing for anyone who is looking to start a small business, as health insurance costs can be prohibitive when you don't have a very large pool of workers for your employer group plan.
Keep in mind that in many states, you only need to provide a health plan if you have more than a certain number of employes and income higher than a set amount. And some states have long had the same kinds of provisions that are included in the new national health care bill. It's entirely possible that little will change for many people.
