Healthcare
Our current system of providing health insurance and healthcare is in crisis. One thing is clear: Small business owners need meaningful reform, not the status quo. Since 1986, our members have said increasing healthcare costs is their No. 1 problem. As our leaders pursue healthcare reform, it is imperative that proposals offer solutions to the serious challenges that small business owners and their employees face.
After months of heated debate, on December 24, 2009, the U.S. Senate passed H.R. 3590, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, a massive healthcare reform bill by a 60-39 party line vote, every Democratic senator voted for the bill, and every Republican senator voted against it.
NFIB vigorously opposed this bill because it fails to address fundamental small business priorities. It does not make health insurance more accessible or affordable for small business. In fact, through new taxes, fees and government regulation, this legislation actually increases the overall costs of doing business for small businesses.
Get the facts on how the proposed healthcare reform bill will have a costly and punitive impact on small business as it unfolds over the next decade. The following presentation responds to legislative proposals made public as of 1/08/10.
We’ve worked hard to earn a coveted seat at the table with healthcare policymakers on Capitol Hill and in the White House. As healthcare reform legislation moves forward, we will continue to advocate for policies that make healthcare more affordable for small business owners and their employees. Our top three priorities are addressing costs, choice and competition.
Forcing employers to offer health insurance, plain and simple, will cost America jobs and revenue, and inhibit small businesses from growing. It’s a bad idea any time, but is particularly destructive in the current economic environment. Government-run healthcare is also not an option that helps small business owners or their employees.
Our Research Foundation has done extensive work on healthcare policy, including a groundbreaking study that tested nine reform scenarios and their effect on small business. Other research looks at possible remedies for rising healthcare costs, the effects of an employer mandate and more.
Solutions Start Here is an aggressive campaign that we created to urge policymakers to find real solutions to the healthcare crisis. Our leaders need to be held accountable and deliver reforms that meet the needs of our country’s job creators. Share your healthcare story and join the campaign. Because when it’s fixed for small business, it’s fixed for America.
Dr. Bob Graboyes is Senior Healthcare Advisor at NFIB, helping to provide the small business perspective on healthcare reform. Check out Bob’s collection of speeches, videos and blog posts, and learn more about some of NFIB's key healthcare positions.