Small Business Owner, 47, Insured

Interviewed 2009

(oil on canvas, 40 ins. x 30 ins.)

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The artist included her husband in the series to represent the perspective of a small business owner facing a common quandary: why should I hire one full-time employee with benefits when it would be cheaper to hire two without? It was both a pragmatic and a moral dilemma that the two of them struggled with as they considered how to balance the needs of their employees with the needs of their business at the time. Ultimately, it is what drove Theresa to make health care the main focus of her Art As Social Inquiry project.

Groups plans for small businesses can cover as few as two people. Before the Affordable Care Act, if employees in a small group had exorbitant claims, an insurance company could strong-arm the small business owner to drop the insurance coverage by making it too expensive. This meant it was to a small business owner’s advantage to hire younger, likely healthier people, or to forego offering insurance coverage altogether. The Affordable Care Act gave small business owners options and eliminated fears that they would be penalized if employees actually used their insurance coverage.