Small Businesses Could Have Major Influence On Next President's Health Care Plan

The Los Angeles Times last month examined how the "verdict of small business owners could lift or sink the next president's health care reform plan." Small businesses are "at the core of both the policy problem and the thorniest political challenge" to reducing the number of uninsured U.S. residents, the Times reports.

While most large employers offer coverage, many small companies find the cost prohibitive. Nearly two-thirds of the working uninsured and about 40% of all U.S. workers are employed by companies with fewer than 100 employees, the Times reports. "So in terms of policymaking, it will be almost impossible to reduce the number of uninsured substantially without involving those who work for small firms," according to the Times.

Small businesses traditionally have been "a solid GOP constituency," but they are "being wooed by the Democratic candidates, who are offering to tweak their health care plans to make them more appealing," according to the Times. However, the Times reports that small businesses "are a powerful lobbying force, and winning their support for significant changes may not be easy." Denny Dennis, research director for the National Federation of Independent Businesses, said, "The politicians' problem is coverage. Ours is cost," adding, "If they can't help us with cost, how can we help them with coverage?"

A survey by the federation showed that 9% of its 350,000 members said expanding coverage was the most important issue related to health care, while 74% named health care costs as the most important issue. The survey also found that 57% of federation members said they would support an individual health insurance mandate, while 40% said they would oppose it. An individual coverage mandate "is a cornerstone of universal coverage plans" proposed by Democratic candidates Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.) and former Sen. John Edwards (N.C.).

Robert Blendon, a professor of health policy and political analysis at the Harvard School of Public Health, said, "The individual mandate is attractive in that it sounds like it could get their employees coverage, and it wouldn't require (employers) to contribute very much" (Alonso-Zaldivar, Los Angeles Times, 12/23/07).