Insurance pullout hurting small business owners

DOVER - Small-business owners are having difficulty finding affordable health insurance for. themselves and their employees, and the situation is worsening. Starting April 1, Aetna U.S. Healthcare and Delmarva Health Plan Inc. are no longer issuing coverage in Delaware.

Customers whose policies expire after then will continue to be covered until the policy ends, but every month more Delawareans will be without health insurance, said Michael B. Johnson, president of Georgetown-based insurance broker Peninsula Health Alliance Inc.

Mr. Johnson said there are not many companies providing coverage for small businesses.

Even when an insurance provider can be found, he said, the premiums are often at least double what the businesses were paying before.

"It's not easy," Mr. Johnson said. "If you do find a company, the rate will be two or three times higher than your last one if you are lucky."

The problem is especially tough on the "mom-and-pop" businesses, where a husband and wife are the only employees and need health coverage for themselves and their children, Mr. Johnson said.