Indiana Small Business Group Wants ACA Delay

An Indiana organization is calling for a one year delay of the Affordable Care Act because of its impact on small businesses.

The state chapter of The National Federation of Independent Business says doing so would help offset some of the issues that have come with the rollout of the law, commonly known as Obamacare.

"A lot of small business owners - possibly the majority - purchase their health insurance in the individual market and those who can't log on to the website or whose plans have suddenly been canceled, shouldn't be penalized for non-compliance," said The National Federation of Independent Business Indiana President Barbara Quandt.

Obamacare has faced criticism because of the technical difficulties of signing up for health insurance at HealthCare.gov.

U.S. Sen. from Indiana Dan Coats is co-sponsoring legislation delaying the individual and employer mandates for a year.

"We think this is reasonable," said Quandt.  "It will give the government time to fix the problems and relieve some of the anxiety for small business owners and frankly anyone else who must purchase insurance on the individual market."  

U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius says the technical glitches will be fixed by the end of November.

But, Quandt says her organization's concerns extend beyond the online issues.

"I think a year delay will certainly allow them the time to put in place a website that works and a product that people can purchase affordably," she said.