While some states are protesting the new health care bill, others are already working to implement the new provisions, even when they aren't slated to take effect for years.



This is certainly the case with Wisconsin health insurance. Wisconsin already covers a substantial amount of those who are too poor to pay for medical care with BadgerCare, a state funded program.



And the Wisconsin Health Insurance Risk-Sharing Plan is a high-risk pool already designed to help those who can't get coverage due to pre-existing conditions.



According to JSonline, while the new health care bill does require coverage four years from now, states like Wisconsin who are doing so much to cover the uninsured will be very ready in 2014 when federal pools take effect.



This is because the funding and support from the federal government will ease some of the burden currently absorbed by the state.



Wisconsin health insurance rates will also drop in 2014 due to the mandatory health insurance enrollment of all Americans, which is projected to lower premiums substantially.

Rate hikes for individual health insurance have been big news in states like California and Massachusetts, where premiums increases have been contested by legislators.

But small business health insurance buyers often suffer alongside those in the individual market because they don't have the bargaining power of bigger corporations.

And that's exactly the story at Boston.com, where health care costs are predicted to heavily impact the small business health insurance premiums in Massachusetts.

Dealing with the double-whammy of a bad economy and rising healthcare costs, many employers are struggling to pay for insurance without eating up all their profits.

In some cases employers are offering deductibles, which mean lower premiums but higher out-of-pocket costs. Others have tried sharing more costs with employees. But when an individual policy purchased through small business health insurance can cost up to $600 per month, per employee, neither employer nor employee can easily afford the costs.

Some small business owners are looking forward to 2014, when insurance cooperatives will theoretically offer small business health insurance at more affordable rates.

But that's four long years away, and in the mean time the rising costs of health care are a heavy burden to bear for business owners who need to count every penny.