The Trump administration announced Monday it wants small businesses to stop buying health insurance on the federal exchange HealthCare.gov.
The Affordable Care Act allowed businesses with fewer than 50 employees to buy insurance through the exchange.
It meant owners could set a budget, then allow employees to shop for the insurance that best fit their needs.
David Chase, of the national advocacy group Small Business Majority, said without the online system, providing insurance to employees through the exchange is too complicated.
“From an administrative perspective, it would be so cumbersome that a small business likely wouldn’t be able to use that feature going forward," Chase said.
Without access to the exchange, small businesses will instead go through a broker or directly to an insurance company.
The exchange didn’t prove as popular as the Obama Administration had first hoped. In Oregon, only 190 businesses used it.
The main problem was that initially it was delayed and small businesses were allowed to keep their old insurance.