Case study: Small business faced big health insurance hike

Amy Bielawski has gone most of her life without health insurance. 

For 32 years, the 61-year-old has run her own entertainment company in Tucker, Ga. — setting up bounce houses, petting zoos, stilt walkers, and other attractions for family and corporate events. For several years, she did two of her specialties, face painting and balloon sculpting, for kids before Atlanta Hawks home games. 

One morning this past spring, Bielawski delivered a singing telegram to a woman getting off the graveyard shift at a Waffle House. Dressed as a chicken in a bikini, she sang a medley of songs that included The Beatles and Stevie Wonder, before ending with a birthday twerk.