The Affordable Care Act created a myriad of health insurance provisions for small business owners that took effect in 2015. For 2016, however, a new law modifying the ACA can prevent some businesses with 51 to 100 employees from increases in health insurance premiums.

Protecting Affordable Coverage for Employees or PACE as it is also known, was signed by President Obama in October 2015, to be effective in 2016. The legislation addresses a provision of the ACA seen as particularly burdensome to this group of small to midsized business owners.

States have defined small businesses as those with 50 for fewer employees. Obamacare would expand that definition to include businesses with up to 100 employees as of January 1, 2016. The new law gives states the ability to decide how to classify businesses with 51 to 100 employees, potentially saving premiums for small business employees.

Also, if the original small group provision had been implemented in 2016 as planned, small employers with between 51 and 100 employees would have been faced with the prospect of providing employees with health care coverage or face the steep tax penalties imposed on large employers for non compliance with the employer mandate. PACE can benefit these small businesses.