It’s been a year since the health care reform bill was signed into law. There are plenty of questions surrounding the future of the law, but a number of its major provisions are in effect now. Some of these provisions are designed to make it more affordable for small businesses to provide health insurance to their employees – but the fact is few small business owners are aware of these provisions.

That’s the conclusion reached in a recent poll of California small business owners. KQED, a public ration station in the San Francisco Bay Area, recently aired a story on the survey.

The poll of 804 small businesses in California showed that 57% of small employers are unaware of the tax credits available to help them cover employee health care expenses. We briefly mentioned those tax credits here.

If you’re a small business owner, you owe it to yourself to get familiar with the assistance that may be available to you. Regardless of your personal opinions of the health reform law, the fact is that small business owners and their employees need health insurance, just like everyone else. And most people will agree, I think, that anything that makes health insurance more affordable is welcome news.

To learn more about health reform provisions designed for small businesses, visit Healthcare.gov’s small business page. To learn more about shopping for small business health insurance, read eHealthInsurance’s small business health insurance buyer’s guide: Health Insurance for Entrepreneurs.