Another Day, Another SHOP Delay

Press Release

House Small Business Committee Chairman Sam Graves (R-MO) released the following statement on Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services' (CMS) decision to delay the Small Business Health Options Program (SHOP) "employee choice' option until at least 2016, further limiting the breadth of choice that was originally envisioned, which could lead to increased premium costs.

"Today's announcement from CMS is yet another in a long line of bad news and signs of poor management of SHOP," said Chairman Graves. "HHS and CMS haven't answered my inquiries regarding the development of SHOP and it appears that the dysfunction is worse than many of us thought. This pattern of continued delays and confusion is especially disappointing to me and the small business community as many firms grapple with increased health costs. Under Obamacare, costs are increasing for nearly two-thirds of small businesses that provide health insurance to their employees, according to a CMS report released in February. Just imagine trying to run a small company and keep up with all of the changes and delays regarding this law."

Last week, Graves wrote to CMS Administrator Marilyn Tavenner to again request information about the SHOP enrollment. In January, Graves requested enrollment numbers and related information from Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. The information has not been produced.

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