WASHINGTON, D.C.– After yesterday’s announcement that the Obama Administration has yet again delayed another federal requirement for employers to provide health care, commonly known as the “employer mandate”, Katie Vlietstra, Vice President for Government Relations and Public Affairs of the National Association for the Self-Employed (NASE), the nation’s leading advocate and resource for the self-employed and micro-businesses, released the following statement:

“This latest extension to the new health care law by the Obama Administration comes after a series of setbacks that ultimately hurts the intent of the law. Yet again, America’s largest employers continue to receive reprieves from having to comply with the new law.

“From health care plan cancelations to hardship extensions to a delay in the SHOP exchange, America’s smallest businesses – the self-employed and micro-businesses nationwide – largely fall into the individual market and continue to ride the rollercoaster of changes and obstacles while large employers continue to get a pass from the Administration.

“Now is the time to put the American consumer who is shopping for an affordable health care plan first. We continue our call on the Administration to delay the individual mandate penalty in 2014 and extend open enrollment through the end of this year to allow for consumers to adequately access affordable health care.”