Bills Hike Small Business Healthcare Costs

State lawmakers are considering two bills that will drastically increase small business healthcare costs.

SB 10 and SB 11, both the subject of legislative hearings this week, increase the amount of medical risk small businesses are liable for under a self-funded employer-sponsored health plan. 

The bills raise the minimum attachment points, or the monetary amount of medical claims an employer has to cover, by hundreds of thousands of dollars. 

The effects of these proposals could be devastating for small businesses who cannot afford to pay for these claims out-of-pocket. 

“SB 11 removes an option for small businesses to choose a health plan that best suits the needs of their employees,” CBIA’s Grace Brangwynne told members of the Human Services Committee at a March 11 public hearing. 

Chris Davis, CBIA vice president of public policy, added “the impact that this kind of policy would have on the employees of each and every one of these businesses cannot be lost.”

Spiking Costs

An increase in attachment points could spike healthcare costs by between 20% to 70%. 

For the half of businesses in Connecticut that offer self-funded health plans, the effects could be devastating.

Numerous pieces of written testimony submitted by small employers emphasize that increased costs could cause them to withdraw benefits entirely, move to the more costly fully-insured market that they previously left, or incur an unmanageable amount of medical claims. 

“This would create serious financial strain on both #businesses and their #employees,” MW Group Benefits Inc.’s Kathleen Aiken says about legislation imposing a mandates on self-funded, employer-sponsored #health plans ahead of a public hearing tomorrow. https://t.co/L7u68mhSyw

— CBIA (@CBIANews) March 5, 2025

Connecticut small businesses continue to face increasing health insurance costs while plan options decline amid the collapse of the small group market.

State lawmakers failed to act in the 2023 and 2024 legislative sessions on transformational, bipartisan legislation providing affordable, high-quality healthcare plan options for small business employees.

SB 10 and 11 are awaiting further action in the Insurance and Real Estate Committee and Human Services Committee, respectively. 

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For more information, contact CBIA’s Grace Brangwynne (860.244.1163).