How can a SHOP Exchange help small businesses?

As with most of the other mandates issued under the Affordable Care Act, the primary goal of SHOP exchanges too is to provide health insurance at cost-effective rates to small businesses & their employees.
The U.S. federal Government granted States the flexibility to design SHOP exchanges separate from the Health Insurance Exchanges (HIX) for individuals or merge the SHOP exchanges together with the health insurance exchanges. Small businesses due to small healthcare budgets are often unable to provide employer-sponsored healthcare to their employees due to high premium and health coverage administrative costs. The SHOP exchange aims to reduce the premium rates to enable small businesses offer health insurance to their employees.
With numerous health plans participating in the SHOP exchanges, small employers & their employees would be able to compare plans offered by various payers and select plans that are best fit to both employers’ & employees health & financial needs. 
Adverse SelectionSHOP exchange administrators would also need to incorporate measures that safeguard against instances of adverse selection, cases when small businesses purchase health plans outside the SHOP insurance exchange.
States setting up SHOP exchanges need to ensure that health plans participating in the Exchange provide insurance to all applicants irrespective of their health profile. SHOP Exchange administrators would also need to perform risk adjustments checks to ensure that health plans do not get irreparably harmed due to adverse selection.
Outreach
SHOP insurance exchanges also need to actively participate in community outreach programs & initiatives to ensure that the SHOP Exchanges witnesses significant number of plan enrollments. Community health workers, Exchange navigators, insurance agents & brokers etc. can serve as effective communication tools for helping multi-ethnic communities understand the benefits of participating in health insurance exchanges.
 Small businesses have traditionally been unable to provide healthcare coverage to their employees owing to high premium rates and very little options available in the market. The Affordable Care Act through the SHOP Exchanges seeks to address such administrative & cost challenges faced by small businesses. A significant portion of the U.S. population is employed in small businesses. To make sure that people employed in small businesses can avail the same opportunities available to large businesses with large healthcare spending capacities & health plan choices. SHOP Exchanges, once launched, would enable small employers to offer the similar healthcare choices at cost-effective rates to their employees.