The End of SHOP As We Know It?

There's a provision tucked into a recently proposed federal rule that could effectively destroy the Affordable Care Act-created health insurance marketplaces for small businesses, called the “SHOPs”. The SHOPs have been the forgotten stepchild of the ACA; media and policy attention has primarily focused on the rocky roll out of the individual marketplaces, the huge expansion in coverage, and recent trends in premiums and insurer participation. The fact that the SHOPs are dying a slow death has attracted little notice. The final nail in the coffin may be in this draft federal rule.