Two-Thirds of Small Businesses Can Offer Employees Health Insurance, USA

Main Category: Health Insurance / Medical Insurance
Article Date: 08 Jun 2005 - 11:00 PST

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Only about two-thirds of US small businesses can afford to offer employees health insurance, Rep. Jeff Fortenberry (R-Neb.) said Monday at a field hearing of the... House Small Business Committee in Lincoln, Neb., the AP/Colorado Springs Gazette reports. Limited availability of coverage and the high cost of health insurance are the most common complaints of small business owners and employees, Fortenberry said. Six people representing small businesses in Lincoln and eastern Nebraska testified at the hearing, which was organized by Fortenberry and attended by committee members Reps. Lee Terry (R-Neb.), Tom Osborne (R-Neb.) and Don Manzullo (R-Ill.). The small business owners testified they each spend between 10% and 30% of their total budgets on health care. Charlie Jansen, chair of medical staffing company RTG Medical in Fremont, Neb., said he solicited bids from six insurers in 2004 and received three responses, but the lowest premium offered was 90% higher than premiums for his existing plan. Businesses have to pass the costs along to employees, which makes it difficult for the companies to grow, Jansen said. Debi Durham, president of the Siouxland Chamber of Commerce in Nebraska, said small businesses in different states should be able to participate in association health plans to bargain for better rates. Fortenberry said, "I would shop, shop, shop," adding that there are no simple solutions. "It is a very long book with a lot of chapters," he said (Bauer, AP/Colorado Springs Gazette, 6/7).

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