Most small businesses will get tax credits under overhaul, according to report

News reports follow Families USA's continuing rollout of state-by-state studies on the number of small businesses that will be eligible for tax credits to help cover health costs under the new overhaul law, a vast majority according to the studies.

The (Champaign, Ill.) News-Gazette: "More than 4 million mom and pop restaurants, hardware stores and other struggling small businesses will be eligible for a tax credit this year to help buy health insurance for their workers. The tax credit is expected to benefit nearly 84 percent of the nation's 4.8 million businesses that employ fewer than 25 people, according to a report released Wednesday by Families USA, a national health care consumer organization." In Illinois, "78.5 percent, will qualify for a tax credit" (Pressey, 7/22).

The Columbus Dispatch: "The tax credits are part of the federal health-care overhaul enacted this year by Congress and signed by President Barack Obama. They are meant to help small businesses -- which typically pay more for health insurance and get fewer benefits than large companies -- keep or buy insurance." Families USA "found that 85.7 percent of Ohio businesses with 25 or fewer employees are eligible for tax credits this year. The credits can shave up to 35percent off the employer's cost of coverage for an employee" (Williams, 7/22).

The (Fort Wayne, Ind.) Journal Gazette: "About 93 percent of Indiana businesses with fewer than 25 employees will be eligible to claim the tax break. … That percentage equals 88,100 Indiana companies, according to the study, which was also sponsored by Small Business Majority, a non-profit, non-partisan business advocacy group based in Sausalito, Calif" (Slater, 7/22).

The Associated Press/The Bismarck (N.D.) Tribune: "A study by two consumer groups says 92 percent of North Dakota small businesses will be eligible for tax credits to help play the cost of employee health insurance. The findings are based on research by the Lewin Group, a health care policy research and management-consulting firm" (7/21).