This policy brief draws on interviews with business owners, state officials, and business leaders to illuminate challenges facing small employers in New England as health insurance expansion continues to evolve. The author highlights several factors that limit small employers' participation in health insurance expansion efforts across the region. These factors include direct costs, such as expensive premiums for those who offer coverage and financial penalties for those who do not. They also include indirect costs, such as the complexity of having to comply with new reporting and administrative requirements, and the uncertainty of these requirements as health insurance reforms continue to evolve.

This policy brief complements the Center's 2006 Research Report, Reaching the Goal: Expanding Health Insurance Coverage in New England.

To review other Center research about health policy, please visit our research index.