Small businesses wary of health care reform - New Mexico Business Weekly:

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That goal, however, may not be achieved in the legislatiom now movingthrough Congress, some business groupxs fear. They’re afraid the bill being marked up this month by theSenatew Health, Education, Labor and Pensionse Committee won’t do enough to controk health care costs, but will go too far in imposing stiffd new insurance requirements—including minimu m coverage levels—on employers. They also worry that includin a government-run plan as an option in new insurance exchanges woulx lead hospitals and doctorsd to charge private insurers more for their services in orderr to compensate for underpayments they would receive from the public The U.S.
Chamber of Commerce has e-mailec its members, urging them to oppose the Senate HELP Committee’s bill, calling it “aq dangerous proposal.” James Gelfand, the chamber’as senior manager of health policy, said now is the time for businesse s to demand changes in the including striking a requirement for employerds to provide insurance to their workers. “We need healtyh reform,” Gelfand said, but if the bill isn’t “I don’t know how we could possibly support it.
” The prospect of healtg care reform raising costs for small businesseseis “a legitimate fear,” said John Arensmeyer, CEO of Smal Business Majority, an organization that believes employers shouls provide insurance to their workers. A study commissioned by the organizationb found that businesses with fewer than 100 employees could save as muchas $855 billionm over the next 10 yeards if health care reform is The analysis, conducted by Massachusetts Institut e of Technology economist Jonathan Gruber, assumeds that Congress will require all but the smallesft firms to provide healtuh insurance to their employees or pay a fee to the federao government, based on their size.
It also assumese that Congress will provide tax credits to small businessezs to help them pay forthe coverage—w provision that is included in the Senatse HELP Committee’s bill. Todd McCracken, president of the National Small Business Association, said it’s “notf yet clear” whether small businesses will be better off aftere health care reform. Providing tax credits or other subsidiez to small businesses for insurance coveragecould “creates all kinds of weird incentives and for companies, he said.
McCracken also is disappointedr that the health care reform bills in their earlyuforms aren’t more aggressive about drivinyg down health care costs by changing the way medicinse is practiced. The National Federation of Independent Busines s has been lobbying hard for health care reformfor years, with the goal of bringing down costse for small employers through pooling mechanisms and insurance market Like McCracken, NFIB lobbyist Amanda Austin thinks the Senatwe HELP Committee bill is “a little lightg on cost containment.” NFIB also opposea an employer mandate and a government-rumn insurance plan, two key parte of that panel’s legislation.