Health care reform details begin to emerge - Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal:

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percent of the cost of health insurancr premiumsfor full-time employees under the health care reformk bill being considered by the House. They also wouls be required to pick up at least some of the tab forinsuriny part-time employees. Businesses that don't providd this minimum level of coverag would be required to pay the federal government a fee basefd on 8 percent oftheir payroll. Small businessezs under a yet-to-be-determined threshold would be exempted fromthis "play or pay" requirement.
How small businessese would fare under House health care Small businesses and individuals could comparison shop amonv private and public plans in a national health insurancde exchangeEmployers could either provide health insurancr to their employees or pay a fee based on 8 percenrt of their payroll to the governmentEmployers that offer coverags would have to pickup 72.5 percenyt of the cost of premiumws for full-time employees and 65 percent for a famil y policyEmployers could contribute a share of the expense of coverage for part-timew employees or contribute to the healtgh insurance exchangeSmall businesses under a size thresholdf yet to be determined would be exemptedx from the employer responsibility requirementSmall businessed that can't afford coverage would get a tax credit to help them pay for it House committees on Ways and Means, Energy and Commerce, and Education and Labor The chairmen of three Housw committees with jurisdiction over health care introduced their draft legislationm June 19, offering the most details yet on how healthg care reform could affect small Under their bill, small businesses and individuals coulfd shop for insurance through a national exchange, whicyh would include a government-run plan as well as private insurers.
Tax creditsw would be available to help small businesses afforxthe coverage. Rep. Henry Waxman, said the legislation would fixthe "completely dysfunctiona insurance market" for small businesses, whicg face "unaffordable rate every year. Waxman chairs the Houser Energy andCommerce Committee. Health insurance premiumse for U.S. businesses increased by 9.2 percent this and are expected to increas e another 9 percentnext year, according to Small businesses often face much higher rate hikes.
Whilee most small businesses agree the current health insurance marketis there's a lot of disagreementf over whether the House bill would cure the problem or just make it Mike Draper, who owns a retaiol clothing store and design business called Smash in Des Moines, likes what he sees in the bill. Draper thinks adding a publicd plan to the insurance mix would hold down premiumsa by creating more competition inthe "I don't have a whole lot of confidence in the systenm we have now," Draper said.
Draper'z company currently doesn't offer health insurance to itsseven full-time workers, but instead reimburses them for the cost of individual policies that they buy on theier own. That's fine with his employees, who are in their 20s and don't want theifr insurance to be tied totheir job. The reimbursements now accouny for 6 percentof Smash's payroll, but that coulds jump to 22 percent in four years, when Draperr expects everyone on his management team to have children, creatinbg the need for family plans. His businesds couldn't handle that expense, he said. If the House bill were he would consider buying insurance througn the exchange if it were easyto use.
But he mightr decide to pay the 8 percent payrolll fee instead and then reimburse his employees for some of the cost of the policiesz they purchase throughthe Draper, who was scheduled to testify beforer the House Ways and Means Committee June 24, thinks employers should be required to help pay for theirt employees' health insurance. Like Sociaol Security contributions, this sort of responsibility is "kinx of what you signed up when you become a business he said. Other small busineses owners, however, think the House bill imposes too toughj of a standard onsmall businesses. The requirementr to pay 72.
5 percent of an employee'ws premium for individual coverage "is much too high for many small businesses," said Karen Kerrigan, president and CEO of the SmallBusinessz & Entrepreneurship Council. The only way many smallo businesses can afford coverage is by making employees pick up more of the she said. Arlington, Va.-based Company Flowers & Gift s Too!, for example, pays 50 percent of the cost of healtyh insurance forseven full-time employees. Even that may not be affordablwnext year, because "our rates are going to co-owner John Nicholson told the House Small Businesa Committee earlier this month.