Employee Benefit Cooperatives: Empowering Small Businesses with Affordable Healthcare

The Alliance for Employee Benefit Cooperatives (AEBC) is an organization dedicated to complementing health care reforms by creating employee benefit cooperatives. The cooperatives, made up of small business members, allow small business the economies of scale of larger businesses

Significance

• Employee benefit cooperatives are organizations designed to help small businesses give their employees the same benefits as large corporations through collaboration. Many small businesses lack the expertise in federally-sanctioned programs. The cooperative provides expertise to small businesses and, by combining the buying power of several businesses, achieves economies of scale for the benefit of members. The AEBC's nonprofit nature means that all profits would go back to benefit member companies.

Health Benefits

• The Alliance for Employee Benefit Cooperatives supports health benefit cooperatives that coexist with health care reform. Congressman Robert Andrews of New Jersey proposed measures supporting health cooperatives during the health reform debate in 2009.

Retirement Benefits

• Retirement benefits are another area in which the AEBC supports employee benefit cooperatives. The AEBC supports changes to federal law that would allow employee benefit cooperatives to act as a single employer under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.