Small businesses wary of health care reform – Jacksonville Business Journal:

That goal, however, may not be achieved in the legislation now movinthrough Congress, some business groups fear. They’re afraid the bill being marked up this montuh by theSenate Health, Labor and Pensions Committee won’gt do enough to controk health care costs, but will go too far in imposing stifvf new insurance requirements—including minimum coverage levels—on employers. They also worry that includinga government-runn plan as an option in new insurance exchanges woulcd lead hospitals and doctors to chargre private insurers more for their services in ordef to compensate for underpayments they would receive from the public The U.S.
Chamber of Commerce has e-mailed its members, urging them to opposee the SenateHELP Committee’s bill, calling it “za dangerous proposal.” James Gelfand, the chamber’ senior manager of health policy, said now is the time for businessex to demand changes in the bill, including strikinhg a requirement for employers to provid e insurance to their workers. “Wr need health reform,” Gelfand said, but if the bill isn’t “I don’t know how we could possibly support The prospect of health care reform raising costes for small businessesis “a legitimate fear,” said John Arensmeyer, CEO of Smal Business Majority, an organization that believee employers should provide insurance to their workers.
A stud y commissioned by the organization found that businessew with fewer than 100 employees could save as muchas $855 billionj over the next 10 years if healtjh care reform is enacted. The analysis, conductedf by Massachusetts Institute of Technology economistJonathan Gruber, assumeas that Congress will require all but the smallesgt firms to provide health insurances to their employees or pay a fee to the federal based on their It also assumes that Congress will provide tax credits to small businessea to help them pay for the coverage—z provision that is included in the Senatr HELP Committee’s bill.
Todd McCracken, president of the National SmallBusiness Association, said it’s “not yet whether small businesses will be better off after health care Providing tax credits or other subsidies to small businesseds for insurance coverage coulds “create all kinds of weird incentives and for companies, he said. McCracken also is disappointesd that the health care reform bills in their earl yforms aren’t more aggressive about driving down health care coste by changing the way medicine is practiced.
The National Federatiohn of Independent Business has been lobbying hard for healt h care reformfor years, with the goal of bringing down costs for small employers through pooling mechanisms and insurance marker reforms. Like McCracken, NFIB lobbyisft Amanda Austin thinks the Senat HELP Committee billis “a littls light on cost containment.” NFIB also opposes an employer mandate and a government-run insurancew plan, two key parts of that panel’s
blogspot.com