In a major setback for small business owners and entrepreneurs, the House voted to move forward with the repeal of the Affordable Care Act. Small business owners in San Diego say repealing the health care law would lead to unaffordable premiums, job loss, and budget cuts that would devastate the economy and harm small business growth. “As a business owner it’s important to know that our number one asset, our staff and their families, have access to affordable health care,” says George Thornton, owner of The Homebrewer in North Park. “Few things can be more local than ensuring access to health care for our loved ones.” The House vote comes just a day after a joint report was released by the Treasury and Department of Health and Human Services finding that one in five marketplace enrollees is a small business owner or is self-employed. Small business owners and self-employed individuals are nearly three times more likely to use the ACA Marketplace to purchase insurance. Without the ACA, small businesses in San Diego will be vulnerable to price gouging by health insurers, and will no longer have access to the bargaining power, risk pooling, or economies of scale that the ACA created. Costs would increase immediately for every small business that qualifies for the health premium tax credits. The higher cost of coverage for small business owners would mean less money to hire workers, making it harder for employers to add jobs–contributing to an estimated loss of 2.6 million jobs, mostly in the private sector. Repealing the health care system is a misguided effort that will quash entrepreneurship, stall job growth and have a ripple effect throughout the economy.