04/21/2005
CONTACT: Michelle Dimarob, (202) 554-9000
Wyoming Small-Business Owner Shares Story of Struggle to Find Affordable Health Care
WASHINGTON, D.C., April 21, 2005 — National Federation of Independent Business member Mitch Blake today urged the U.S. Senate to act now and address the health-care cost crisis facing small business. Blake’s comments came during testimony before the U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, which focused on easing costs and expanding access to health insurance for small business.
Blake owns and operates Ward + Blake Architects in Jackson, Wyoming, an architectural firm that designs residential and commercial buildings. Ward + Blake Architects which has been in business for nine years, has offered health insurance to its eight employees since its opening. But as health-care costs continue to rise, Blake questioned how long the firm would be able to offer this benefit without eliminating other benefits and still stay in business.
“We offer health insurance to all eight of our employees and they all take advantage of it,” Blake said. “We do this both because it is the right thing to do, and to attract and retain quality employees. But I have to be honest that it is not getting any easier. Our story is one of increasing deductibles and higher premiums.”
During his testimony, Blake recounted the efforts undertaken over the last nine years to keep his company’s health-care costs under control.
“Over the years as the premiums increased, we shopped around and made adjustments in an attempt to absorb the expenses because we did not want to shift those costs to our employees. Throughout that process, our employees premiums stayed at $250,” Blake said. “Despite all of that, when it came time to renew our policy for this year, the cost quoted to us for eight employees was $3,177, or about an $823 increase in monthly premiums, which comes to roughly $10,000 more a year than what we were already paying. We just could not afford to continue shouldering the enormity of those costs and still offer health insurance. After five years of switching plans nearly every year, we finally changed from a traditional plan to a Health Reimbursement Arrangement (HRA) plan. We now cover $1,000 of the deductible and ask our employees to pay $1,500.”
NFIB Vice President of Public Policy Susan Eckerly acknowledged that Blake’s story is familiar to many of NFIB’s 600,000 members. “No other single problem can touch health-care costs in terms of either the unanimity or intensity of concern it generates among small-business owners,” said Eckerly. “For a good portion of our members, health care is their largest expense after their taxes. It is a serious problem in need of a serious dialogue about the best way to address this growing crisis.”
NFIB members nationwide have said that Small-Business Health Plans (formerly AHPs) are a critical solution to the health-care cost crisis, and have endorsed passage of the Small-Business Health Fairness Act (S. 406). The legislation would increase competition and choice by allowing small businesses to band together across state lines to receive the same access to affordable health-care insurance that many large companies enjoy today.
Blake acknowledged during the hearing that he is not sure what the best solution is to address the problems he and his colleagues face in the small-business community. However, he said that something must be done to stop the ever-increasing cost to small business.
“I have discussed this issue with several other business owners and looked at alternative ways to provide health insurance for my company,” Blake said. “Ultimately, I do not know if there is one solution or many solutions. But I do know that right now I am limited to three health insurance providers in Wyoming and that means I have limited options for my employees. I want what is going to lower my premiums and enable me to continue offering health insurance.”
According to data from the Employee Benefit Research Institute, of the 27 million uninsured working Americans, 63 percent work for a small business with 100 or fewer employees. The legislation is supported by the NFIB and a coalition of more than 180 organizations representing 12 million employers and 80 million workers. On March 17, 2005, the U.S. House Education and Workforce Committee passed companion legislation (H.R. 525), by a vote of 25-22.
Editor’s Note: To date, the Small Business Health Fairness Act of 2005 (S. 406) has 12 cosponsors: Sen. Olympia Snowe (ME-R), Sen. Jim Talent (MO- R), Sen. Kit Bond (MO-R), Sen. Robert Byrd (WV-D), Sen. John McCain (AZ.-R), Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (TX-R), Sen. Elizabeth Dole (NC-R), Sen. Norm Coleman (MN-R), Sen. David Vitter (LA-R), Sen. Mel Martinez (FL-R), Sen. Johnny Isakson (GA-R) and Sen. John Thune (SD-R). To learn more about the Small Business Health Fairness Act of 2005 or to talk with an NFIB small-business owner about the need to pass Small-Business Health Plan legislation, contact NFIB’s Media Communications Department at (202) 554-9000.
The National Federation of Independent Business is the nation’s largest small-business advocacy group. A nonprofit, nonpartisan organization founded in 1943, NFIB represents the consensus views of its 600,000 members in Washington and all 50 state capitals. More information is available on-line at www.NFIB.com/newsroom.
