08/23/2005
Varied regulations make health insurance costs unpredictable from state to state
A survey released this summer confirmed what small-business owners already knew: A patchwork crazy quilt of state regulations drives up insurance costs in many states, leaving consumers and employers to knit together their best attempt at health care.
eHealthInsurance surveyed health coverage rates in the nation's 50 largest cities for healthy 30-year-olds as a measure of the differences in insurance plans across the country. The findings?
While a 30-year-old non-smoker might find affordable health insurance in San Jose, Calif., state regulations in Massachusetts, New York, Florida or Texas could put health care out of reach for many.
"Health care regulation and insurance mandates vary by state; when states require that plans must include certain services -- dental care, eye care and screenings -- prices rise, making insurance less affordable," says the Heritage Foundation, commenting on the study.
These same regulations force small business out of the health insurance marketplace, making it no surprise that of the 27 million working uninsured, 63 percent work in a small business or are self-employed.
"As America's job creators, small business wants to provide a wide variety of affordable benefits, but when 65 percent of small businesses indicate high cost as the main reason why they do not offer health insurance, it is clear that something must be done so that those on Main Street have the same access to health care as those on Wall Street," says NFIB Executive Vice President Dan Danner.
NFIB is fighting for the passage of Small-Business Health Plans (AHPs), which would allow small-business owners to join together across state lines through their membership in a bona fide trade association, like NFIB, to purchase health coverage for their families and employees.
