Business owners, many of whom badly wanted to provide insurance for their employees for years but couldn't afford it, will now be able to do so. And yet the opponents of reform continue to invoke fear by making misleading claims about how the new law will affect small businesses.

It's time to set the record straight.

A simple fact:small businesses are the engine of the U.S. economy, and their success is linked inexorably to the cost of health insurance for workers.

Since 2000, small business health care costs have risen 129 percent; today, workers at smaller firms pay an average of 18 percent more - for the very same coverage - than workers at large companies, and their deductibles are more than twice as high.

Health insurance reform will rein in runaway coverage costs for employers and workers, provide both with more health insurance options, and relieve downward pressure on profits. The law utilizes two ideas long advocated by many of the very people who voted against the bill: business tax incentives and risk pooling.In combination, they make coverage less risky for insurers and more affordable for employers.

What's the catch, then?

A common misunderstanding is that reform requires all private employers to provide their employees with coverage. In fact, fully 96 percent of small businesses (those with fewer than 50 employees) are exempt from the law's coverage mandate. However, if business owners wish to offer coverage voluntarily - to help recruit or retain employees, or simply because it's the right thing to do - they will be able to take advantage of a broad range of incentives.

To help offset the cost of coverage, small businesses can claim a tax credit of up to 35 percent of their share of premium costs beginning in 2010 and up to 50 percent beginning in 2014. Companies with fewer than 25 employees and average employee earnings of less than $50,000 annually will be eligible for the credit.

To make coverage cost less, reform gives small businesses what they have always struggled for: negotiating authority. When it comes to buying health insurance, there is power in numbers; that's why large companies can negotiate lower group coverage rates for their employees. Starting in 2014, small businesses will be able to purchase coverage through the new state-based health insurance exchanges - at those same lower group rates.

Employees who already have insurance can keep their current plans. But they now have protection against insurance company abuses such as discriminating against children with pre-existing conditions, denying benefits when they get sick, or capping lifetime benefits, all of which are prohibited under the new law. Parents can also keep their children on their policies until they turn 26.

Despite the huge benefits for small business owners and their employees, opponents have promised to repeal health insurance reform. Repealing small business owner's tax credits (effectively raising taxes on small businesses) and rescinding their newfound bargaining power just as the economy shows signs of recovery, would show a reckless disregard for the sector that has been the engine of job creation in this country. The better idea would be to douse the fiery rhetoric and join efforts to make sure small businesses claim these benefits, laying the foundation for expanded access and cost control.

What's at stake for small business owners and their employees - and the U.S. economy as a whole - is far more important than political gamesmanship.