I’m closing my small business in Georgia because of Trump’s budget law

With the signing of the GOP budget bill into law this summer, my time as a small business owner in Georgia must come to an end.

As the single mother of three kids, and my youngest son living with Type 1 diabetes, being forced to go without an income or health care after losing my job was not an option.

After losing my job in 2020, I quickly pivoted to cooking out of my home to provide healthy meals for friends, family and neighbors which led to me starting my own catering business.

Like so many small business owners here in Georgia, starting my small business was about chasing my dreams and providing for my family.

I worked hard to grow my business. Long days were followed by even longer nights, working seven days a week, week after week, running my operations out of my home until I would be able to afford a storefront. Despite those challenges, it was always worth it to chase my passion and provide for my family.

In 2022, I was able to take my children off Medicaid and add them to my Affordable Care Act health care plan thanks to expanded tax credits that made it more affordable for me as a single mom and small business owner.

This plan covered my son’s supplies at a cost I could afford. Even though on Medicaid those supplies were free, I wanted to contribute. I wanted to be a part of the solution and having access to better care under the ACA was worth the price tag.

Having the guarantee of affordable health insurance has been a blessing that I never thought we would see ripped away. In our state, nearly 2 million Georgians rely on Medicaid coverage, and between the drastic cuts to Medicaid, and the changes to the ACA Marketplace, it’s projected that the GOP budget bill will rip away that affordable health insurance from 750,000 Georgians.

Just like me, 95% of Georgians who buy insurance through the ACA marketplace rely on premium tax credits to afford their insurance. With the signing of the GOP budget bill those credits are reduced and insurance premiums and health care costs skyrocket.

Think about what that means. Nearly every Georgian who gets their health insurance from the ACA Marketplace relies on the very resources that were just slashed.

For me, that means that come January, my premiums will triple, my co-pays will rise, and my son’s diabetes supplies will increase dramatically. Despite the love I have for my business, the health of my son and my children is the most important thing in the world to me, and so I have made the heartbreaking decision to let my business go.

Ultimately, I hope to find a new job, with an employer-sponsored health care plan to continue affording my son’s health care, but what does this mean for other small business owners?

Already, I’ve heard from some of my fellow business owners in the food industry who are coming to the realization that they won’t be able to afford their health insurance come January, and some of them are worrying about what that means for their ability to keep their doors open and their employees covered.

Georgia is supposed to be a pro-business state and Republicans claim to be the pro-business party. But this bill crushes small businesses like mine and ensures that only large corporations can thrive while we barely survive — if we survive at all.

I guess that makes sense when you remember that the cuts to Medicaid were used to finance massive tax cuts for the wealthy.