Wednesday, September 08, 2004
Small business and health care
[Ken Daniel, "The Most Important Small Business Problems 2004," KsSmallBiz.com, September 2004.]
What is the top concern of small business owners? Health insurance costs:
Between January and March 2004, the National Federation of Independent Business Research Foundation conducted a nationwide survey of 4,603 small business owners. They were asked to rank 75 types of problems on a scale of 1-7, with 1 being a “critical problem” and 7 being “not a problem”. The responses were then averaged and ranked.
NFIB previously conducted these surveys in 1982, 1986, 1991, 1996, and 2000.
Cost of health insurance has been the #1 problem in all except the 1982 survey. Those who rated it “critical” rose from 47% in 2000 to 66% in 2004.
Daniel also offers a host of solutions in the article "Kansas Small Business Health Insurance Issues 2005":
The health insurance crisis is largely a small business crisis. More than 60% of the uninsured in the U.S. are owners or employees of small businesses and their families. The smaller the business, the less likely its workers are to have health insurance.
- In Kansas, no new mandated health insurance coverages have been passed in the last three years. Mandates fall hardest on small business. Self-insured big companies and unions don’t have to comply. Every mandate prevents at least some small employers from obtaining or continuing to provide health insurance, and runs up costs for the rest. No matter how well-meaning these are, they must be avoided.
- [Health Savings Accounts] are a reality and, at least in the short run, may prove to be the only solution to the continuing crisis in health insurance.
- Small Business Health Plans, previously called association health plans, have the potential to be THE key solution for the small business uninsured problem. Small business owners need to be able to buy health insurance through the associations they know and trust, groups that have their members’ interests at heart. NFIB and 170 other national organizations are members of a coalition supporting the federal legislation, which has passed the U.S. House of Representatives and is gaining support in the U.S. Senate.
- [The Kansas Health Partners Benefit Association] is a private, non-profit organization working with the Kansas Business Health Policy Committee, creating a public/private partnership to provide lower-cost health insurance for small businesses.
- Any small business that has between two and 50 employees and has not contributed to a health insurance premium on behalf of an employee in the previous two years is eligible [for the Kansas Health Insurance Tax Credit]. Businesses that have been in existence for less than two years and have not provided any health insurance for employees are also eligible. This tax credit operates against one’s income tax. However, if one’s income tax liability is less than the credit, the difference is refundable.
[Ken Daniel, "The Most Important Small Business Problems 2004," KsSmallBiz.com, September 2004.]
What is the top concern of small business owners? Health insurance costs:
Between January and March 2004, the National Federation of Independent Business Research Foundation conducted a nationwide survey of 4,603 small business owners. They were asked to rank 75 types of problems on a scale of 1-7, with 1 being a “critical problem” and 7 being “not a problem”. The responses were then averaged and ranked.
NFIB previously conducted these surveys in 1982, 1986, 1991, 1996, and 2000.
Cost of health insurance has been the #1 problem in all except the 1982 survey. Those who rated it “critical” rose from 47% in 2000 to 66% in 2004.
Daniel also offers a host of solutions in the article "Kansas Small Business Health Insurance Issues 2005":
The health insurance crisis is largely a small business crisis. More than 60% of the uninsured in the U.S. are owners or employees of small businesses and their families. The smaller the business, the less likely its workers are to have health insurance.
- In Kansas, no new mandated health insurance coverages have been passed in the last three years. Mandates fall hardest on small business. Self-insured big companies and unions don’t have to comply. Every mandate prevents at least some small employers from obtaining or continuing to provide health insurance, and runs up costs for the rest. No matter how well-meaning these are, they must be avoided.
- [Health Savings Accounts] are a reality and, at least in the short run, may prove to be the only solution to the continuing crisis in health insurance.
- Small Business Health Plans, previously called association health plans, have the potential to be THE key solution for the small business uninsured problem. Small business owners need to be able to buy health insurance through the associations they know and trust, groups that have their members’ interests at heart. NFIB and 170 other national organizations are members of a coalition supporting the federal legislation, which has passed the U.S. House of Representatives and is gaining support in the U.S. Senate.
- [The Kansas Health Partners Benefit Association] is a private, non-profit organization working with the Kansas Business Health Policy Committee, creating a public/private partnership to provide lower-cost health insurance for small businesses.
- Any small business that has between two and 50 employees and has not contributed to a health insurance premium on behalf of an employee in the previous two years is eligible [for the Kansas Health Insurance Tax Credit]. Businesses that have been in existence for less than two years and have not provided any health insurance for employees are also eligible. This tax credit operates against one’s income tax. However, if one’s income tax liability is less than the credit, the difference is refundable.
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