OP ED: Making Health Care More Accessible to Small Business Owners and Their Employees

OP ED: Making Health Care More Accessible to Small Business Owners and Their Employees
by U.S. Senator Wayne Allard

May 10th, 2006 - The United States Senate this week is focusing on a health care agenda in an attempt to hold down the costs of medical care. This issue is important. We cannot continue to bury our heads in the sand and ignore the cost of health care and those who can no longer afford health insurance.

I personally understand the need for health care reform. I am considering this issue as a small businessman who had to struggle with the costs of healthcare and who had to struggle on behalf of his employees, making sure that they had appropriate means to meet the healthcare needs of their families.

Before I came to Congress, when I ran my veterinary hospital in Loveland, Colorado, I did not have health insurance. I found that small business employee health insurance rates were such that I simply could not afford health insurance and stay in business. So I decided to stop trying to find non-existent "affordable" insurance and instead offer my employees increased pay, with the increase being designated for them to buy their own healthcare coverage. Individual plans would be better tailored to their health needs and would be more portable. And my wife and I decided to begin setting aside our own savings account to pay for healthcare costs in case, for some reason or another, one of us had an incident where we needed to go to the hospital.

Being a veterinarian and having, for instance, to lift heavy dogs on and off the exam table, I lifted one too many Great Danes, ended up with back problems, and had to have back surgery. Because I didn't have health insurance, I paid for it myself out of my own pocket, from the savings account we had set up for this type of situation. It set us back, but we were able to survive that particular incident. (It was interesting: the hospital did not at first want to let us in because we did not have health insurance. When we checked out of the hospital, they said they would reduce our costs 20 percent because they did not have to deal with the paperwork or costs of having to process my claim.) So I understand the need, and I have been eager to address this situation.

Two bills that would have lowered health insurance costs by limiting liability were blocked earlier this week in the U.S. Senate. I believe the facts have shown that curbing frivolous lawsuits helps the public by increasing the availability of care and lowering its costs. Unfortunately for you and me, capping liability harms trial lawyers and they had their way on the issue.

I am pleased that another bill coming forward in the Senate this week is Senate Bill 1955, the Health Insurance Marketplace Modernization Act. This legislation allows small businesses to form associations. Then, because they will have more purchasing power in the marketplace, they can negotiate cheaper health insurance policies. It may not be a perfect solution, but at least it will give small businesses one more tool to use in trying to hold down the costs of health care and provide health insurance to many who are currently uninsured.

I think we need to focus this debate on at least giving small businesses the opportunity to make a choice on providing healthcare for themselves and for their employees. Currently, because of the prohibitive cost of health care coverage for their employees, many small business employers don't even have the option of offering coverage.

It is important to note at this point that a small business owner who buys healthcare coverage is also naturally subject to the same healthcare coverage that he provides his employees. It is not logical that they would pay money for a plan that does not provide them with medical coverage.

I support this legislation because I support giving small businesses a choice. I support giving small businesses the opportunity for healthcare coverage that they currently do not receive. I support giving diabetics the opportunity to obtain healthcare coverage, instead of leaving them completely without services and supplies. I support giving small business employees the opportunity for cancer screenings and preventive care instead of leaving them with nothing and no opportunity to provide healthcare for themselves and their families.

I personally know what small businesses go through to provide health benefits for their employees. That is why I am supporting S. 1955, the Health Insurance Marketplace Modernization Act. I believe this bill will give small businesses the opportunity to access healthcare for themselves and their employees.

http://allard.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=PressReleases.Detail&PressRelease_id=231871&Month=5&Year=2006