How Does The Public Feel About Small Companies Gaining Access to Large Company Health Insurance?

At the core of the new regulation for association health plans (AHPs) is the premise that small business should be able to collaborate together and obtain large company health insurance. Large company health insurance is typically less expensive for the same benefits than small business insurance. Large company health insurance also operates under a different set of regulations than small company health insurance.

In the interests of determining public opinion on this core issue for new AHPs, we had Google conduct a nationwide poll that asked over 1,100 adults, “Should small businesses & sole-proprietors be allowed to band together to offer the same kind of lower-cost health insurance plans that large companies already offer?” Survey respondents had the option of answering “yes” or “no.”

The survey found overwhelming public support for small businesses banding together to offer large company health insurance plans. 78 percent of adults answered “yes” in response to the question. Approval of small businesses providing large company health coverage plans was three times higher than those who opposed. For a full description of the survey, results, and methodology, see “Survey: Overwhelming Public Support for Small Businesses to Offer Cost-Saving “Large Company” Health Plans.”