Press Release
January 31, 2022
Columbia, SC—A total of 300,392 South Carolinians obtained affordable, quality health insurance in the federal Health Insurance Marketplace during the official open enrollment period, November 1-January 15, placing it eighth out of the 33 states using the federal platform.
Nationally 14.5 million Americans now have health plans through both the state and federal Marketplaces, a 21% increase over 2021.
“Virtually all these enrollees are working for the growing number of businesses that do not offer health insurance as an employee benefit,” said Frank Knapp Jr, President and CEO of the South Carolina Small Business Chamber of Commerce (SCSBCC). “With costs of employer-sponsered health insurance for small businesses going up over 9% last year, more and more small businesses will be dropping the employee benefits or finding an alternative way of helping their workers. Already only 30% of employees of businesses with ten or fewer workers are covered by employer plans.”
The SCSBCC is working with the SC Primary Health Care Association on educating small business owners about helping their uninsured employees obtain health insurance through the federal Marketplace.
“Small business owners were not only willing to help their uninsured employees learn about and enroll in Marketplace plans, but many owners also found that for the first time they were eligible for receiving premium assistance. As a result, small business owners were dropping short-term, low benefit health plans and paying less for full-coverage Marketplace plans.”
The SCSBCC continues to contact small businesses to inform them that their uninsured employees can still enroll in a subsidized Marketplace health plan if they meet one of the many qualifying life events, such as getting married, divorced, or having a baby.
For more information, contact SCSBCC at sbchamber@scsbc.org.
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