NFIB supports bill to delay healthcare law individual mandate

WASHINGTON (July 17, 2013) — The National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) is supporting a bill that would delay for one year the Affordable Care Act's individual mandate for nearly all Americans to purchase health insurance or pay a penalty.

The NFIB has sent a letter to the U.S. House of Representatives, saying it is counting H.R. 2668 as an "NFIB" key vote in the 113th Congress. An "NFIB Key Vote" designation means the association uses a representative's vote on that issue to determine his or her level of small business advocacy.

H.R. 2668 would defer the "individual mandate" for healthcare coverage until 2015, just as the Obama administration deferred the employer mandate for all companies with more than 50 employees.

The new bill is necessary especially in the face of the employer mandate delay, according to Susan Eckerly, NFIB senior vice president of public policy.

"The delays in Obamacare are further evidence that the law has problems and cannot be implemented in its current form," Ms. Eckerly said. "Delaying implementation of the individual mandate alongside the employer mandate may provide members of Congress with time and opportunity to solve some of the law's most grievous problems."