Small Business Feels Threatened By Calls for Universal Health Insurance
Small businesses, which have been hit hardest by the rising cost of health insurance, fear that legislation that could force them to provide low-cost heath insurance to their employees, could put them out of business. This despite assurances that such programs are designed to help them obtain affordable group health insurance for their employees, certainly lower than the rates they are paying now. Small businesses are traditionally weary of government involvement and government mandates. And when small businesses feel threatened, as a group they can have a surprising amount of political power. Major small business advocacy groups say that any move on a state or a national level towards Universal Health Insurance that is perceived to be harmful to small business will have a hard time passing.
It was this anticipated knee jerk reaction to Universal Health Insurance on the part of small business that prompted The Federation of American Hospitals and the advocacy group Families USA to be sure to invite one of the largest organizations representing small business to its talks to iron out a proposal for affordable health coverage that included a Universal Health Insurance Proposal back in 2005. The organization The National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) denied their requests to take part. Small businesses just do not trust big Government, and the NFIB backed away from the talks for fear that they would result in a Government backed program.
While small business know that they are being squeezed by health insurance costs, and many have had to drop coverage for their employees as rates have gone up by as much as 80% in some states like NJ, they just do not trust that Government intervention is the answer. They don’t like the idea of not knowing exactly what their costs for health insurance will be, and they fear bureaucracy.
On the other hand, with small business holding out, big business has thrown their support behind the FAH Proposal. The talks between FAH and Families USA resulted in a 16-organization coalition in favor of universal medical coverage, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the American Hospital Association, America's Health Insurance Plans and such major corporation as Johnson & Johnson and Pfizer.
Advocates who want to see universal health insurance become a practical reality realize however, they will not move forward without gaining the support of small business – or at least reducing their opposition. They are quick to point out that it was opposition by small business that killed Bill Clinton’s healthcare plan back in 1994, which many of today’s proposals for creating affordable health insurance closely resemble.
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