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February 2017 • The PCB Magazine 77 WHY TRUMP WILL BE GOOD FOR OUR INDUSTRY Implementation of any of the actions should provide an incremental benefit to busi- ness across the board. Healthcare Policy The Affordable Care Act (ACA, or Obam- acare) enacted into law in March of 2010 has proved to be anything but affordable to the av- erage worker and business. The ACA imposes fees and taxes on businesses of all sizes, but is particularly crippling to small business. Since the Small Business Administration reports that 65% of net new jobs are created by small busi- nesses, this is a major issue for the U.S. econ- omy. One of the many legislative mandates is the employer mandate, which requires employ- ers with greater than 50 full time equivalents to provide insurance to their full-time employees or pay a per month penalty. This mandate has forced employers to look at their business prac- tices on hiring in total, but specifically when to hire full-time employees or part-time em- ployees. The ACA further pushes businesses up against the wall by changing the definition of full-time as only 30 hours per week. As Figure 5 shows the impact of rising healthcare costs on business is staggering. While the annual cost of employee contributions to healthcare pre- miums have increased $3,950 over the past 16 years, employer contributions have increased $8,614, per employee. The proposed Trump administration health- care reform looks to include: • Completely repealing Obamacare • Making healthcare plans available nationally instead of regionally • Creating full tax deduction for health insurance premium payments • Improving Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) • Requiring price transparency from all healthcare providers The reforms outlined above will lower healthcare costs for all Americans, and busi- nesses, allowing that money to go back into business growth and the economy. Financial Policy Markets are focusing on Trump's promise for tax reform, deregulation and investment. The stock market typically shows a bump after any election, regardless of party, however, as of this writing the Dow came within a single point of reaching the historic 20,000. Since the election, 17 Dow record closings have been set, which Figure 5: Healthcare premium contributions. (Source: Kaiser Family Foundation)