Small-business owners are bracing for changes–and, in some cases, higher costs–under the current House GOP plan to replace the Affordable Care Act (ACA), the Wall Street Journal reported yesterday.

As I write this, the bill–called the American Health Care Act–is being modified to address the objections of the House’s most conservative Republicans. It’s unclear what the last-minute changes are and what, if any, impact, they will have on small business. A vote is scheduled for 7 p.m. It’s anybody’s guess whether the bill will make it out of the House.

As things stand now, the House healthcare bill would eliminate mandates imposed on businesses by the ACA, which was passed by Congress on March 23, 2010. For example, firms with 50 or more full-time workers would no longer have to provide health insurance to employees. The downside of that, of course, is that might make it more difficult for such companies to attract skilled talent if they opt not to provide health insurance. Studies have shown that company-provided health insurance is a perk which makes it easier for companies to attract and retain employees.

Another factor is that the current version could result in higher healthcare premiums for those firms with older workers and lower costs for those with younger employees, the Journal reported.

“Nearly 25% of owners of new businesses with employees were 55 or older in 2014,” according to the Kauffman Foundation, which studies entrepreneurship, while another 29% were between the ages of 45 to 54.

The Journal reported that 55% of firms with three to 199 employees offered healthcare benefits to their workers last year, according to the nonprofit Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, with larger firms more likely to offer these benefits.

For firms with 50 or fewer employees, the biggest proposed change under the House GOP plan would be a relaxation of rules under the ACA that limit how much more insurers can charge older workers. (A recent analysis of the House plan by the Congressional Budget Office said it would sharply increase insurance premiums for older workers.)

A St. Louis veterinarian, Wayne Hause, told the Journal that change “would probably destroy our ability to provide good health care to the majority of our workers.” Hause has 40 employees, and seven of the 19 employees on the practice’s health plan are 50 or older, Hause told the Journal.

The current GOP health plan would also end a tax credit available for lower-wage small businesses that buy coverage through the federal Small Business Health Options Program, which created marketplaces for small firms to buy employee health plans, the Journal said.

Other small-business owners and entrepreneurs could also be affected by changes aimed at individual coverage. The House GOP plan could raise premiums by 15% to 25% for individuals in 2018, compared to rates without the bill, according to CBO estimates, which also show that fewer people would have health coverage.

That could discourage some would-be entrepreneurs from starting their own businesses, studies suggest. Gareth Olds, a Harvard Business School professor, told the Journal: “If people lose insurance, they are much less likely to start a business.” Olds has studied the impact of health insurance on firm formation.

President Trump’s proposed 2018 budget would cut the Small Business Administration’s budget by $43.2 million, or a 5 percent decrease from the 2017 annualized continuing resolution.  The SBA is currently funded at $869.7 million.

The SBA ensures that small businesses have the tools and resources needed to start and grow their operations, maintain U.S. competitiveness and help grow the economy.

The Office of Management and Budget (OMB)  says the agency will be more efficient because reductions in spending are being targeted at “redundant programs” and eliminating programs that deliver services which OMB says are better provided by the private sector.

One area, in particular, that could absorb the brunt of the cuts, is the elimination of SBA grant programs such as PRIME technical assistance grants, Regional Innovation Clusters and Growth Accelerators.  The feds  currently appropriate $12 million towards the programs.

OMB says the private sector provides similar, presumably  more effective  mechanisms to foster local business development and investment.

Trump’s budget would maintain $28 million in microloan financing and technical assistance to help serve, strengthen and sustain the smallest of small businesses and startups. The proposed budget would also support more than $45 billion in loan guarantees to help small businesses get affordable capital to start or expand their businesses.

All told, OMB says the cuts would actually strengthen SBA’s outreach center programs by reducing duplicative services, coordinating best practices and investing in communities that would benefit from SBA’s business center support.

Congress must approve the White House’s proposed budget, which many critics have already said is DOA on Capitol Hill. The budget contains big increases for defense, homeland security and veterans affairs.