In the implementation of small business laws, a persistent concern exists in the form of the issue of the reduced ability of the organizations they are intended to assist to meet the financial obligations that may be imposed on them by small business law measures that do not adequately consider the resources that are commonly available to small businesses. Such an objection has been voiced through national media outlets through some small business owners in reference to the new package of health care reforms passed into legislation as sponsored by President Barack Obama’s White House and approved by the House of Representatives in late March 2010. It relates to the experience that has already been garnered in the area of small business law as related to a similar, though not identical, piece of health care legislation passed into state law by the legislature of Massachusetts, which has been in effect since 2006. This package of laws provided a model for the sweeping, nationwide laws approved by President Obama in enacting measures, including some as relate to small business laws, which enact measures to make health care coverage available on a nearly universal basis. The Massachusetts legislature accomplished their goal in part by requiring all employers who have more than eleven workers to offer their employees adequate insurance plans for the meeting of their health care needs. As a measure of small business law, this law has been criticized by some commentators with experience in acting as employers in regard to the argument that it does not adequately address the lesser financial reserves of a modest business establishment, instead taking an approach to health care provisions that such critics contend amounts to a “one size fits all” philosophy, a common objection when it comes to small business laws.
In interpreting the future implications of the small business law questions raised by the passage of these laws, commentators on such questions have emphasized that the future course of event is not at all clear, and that the example provided by Massachusetts as to the small business law issues raised by demanding health care legislation does not clearly or at least consistently demonstrate that in the available case of its implementation small businesses have been forced to close. Indeed, the Massachusetts package of health care reform legislation was passed in part with the support of businesses.
In comparing the nationwide and the Massachusetts reforms, however, an important consideration for looking at these questions of small business laws is to note that while their intended effects are largely comparable, many of their specific provisions differ significantly. For instance, unlike the Massachusetts reforms, the reforms sponsored by the President and approved by Congress does not mandate that employers must offer health-care insurance to their employers but does impose stringent payments on employers who fail to insure their workers of their own volition. Employers have still voiced their worries that these new small business laws will ultimately limit their ability to conduct business at all.