Healthcare Reform and How it Impacts Small Business
Yesterday I talked with two small business owners, a small retail shop and a landscaper, about healthcare reform.
With the economy still experiencing recession like conditions most small business owners are just trying to survive, the two owners I talked with were no different. The retail shop owner is in a good position because she resells mostly used items, which attracts people in the current economy. The landscaper is in a tougher position as he has had to bid on work out of state to find jobs.
They both expressed concern about the same thing. How are small businesses going to afford to pay for health insurance for low level / entry level employees? They also both came to the same conclusion: they would have to lay off staff.
Everyone knows that we need health care reform, but shifting costs to small businesses that are barely surviving is not the answer. A better solution would be to address fraud, reform laws allowing complete and open cross state competition, and tort reform. Then as health insurance costs are brought down more people could afford to purchase it in the first place, and larger "pools" of people across state lines would equal lower premiums.
Why don't we do healthcare reform a little at a time? We did not get in this position overnight, it is unlikely to be fixed correctly overnight.