12/06/2005
by Jack Faris
Along with the chilly northern air rushing into the United States this time of year, December also brings blizzards of advertisements, squalls of shoppers and flurries of holiday cards, all bearing a sense of urgency that another year is near end.
Judging from the 80-foot-tall Christmas tree erected on the lawn of the U.S. Capitol, one would also expect Congress to be aware that 2005 is nearly gone. But there is concern that this holiday season will pass before lawmakers awaken, Scrooge-like, to save small businesses from ruin.
Congress has a lot on its platter–a war, terrorism and natural disasters–all important and pressing matters. Yet some impending crises, such as our national health-care system, are met with procrastination because they lack the dramatic urgency that makes headlines.
Although the warnings of this impending health insurance calamity are repeated on almost a daily basis, they're buried in thick stacks of mind-numbing reports delivered to Capitol Hill or hidden deep within the Congressional Record amidst mundane summaries of the day-to-day business of government.
The failure to address the health-care crisis threatens the safety and well-being of 45 million Americans who are at risk because they have no medical coverage. Nearly two-thirds–63 percent–are employed by small businesses that have fewer than 100 employees. Small business simply cannot afford the high cost of health insurance.
It isn't as if the American small-business sector has been reluctant to warn lawmakers that this emergency is on its way. For years, these entrepreneurs have named health insurance costs as their single most important problem. From 2000-2004, these costs have risen 15 percent to 20 percent annually. The share of small businesses with three to nine employees that offer health plans has fallen about 10 percentage points in just a few years.
On eight occasions, the U.S. House of Representatives has passed legislation designed to allow the creation of Small-Business Health Plans, also known as association health plans, to allow small enterprises to band together across state lines to purchase health coverage through trade associations. Such plans could save the typical owner of a small firm between 15 and 30 percent of their medical insurance costs and give them the same accessibility, affordability and choice that labor unions and large businesses have.
Unfortunately, similar legislation has failed to pass in the U.S. Senate. Currently two bills have been introduced that will allow the creation of Small-Business Health Plans; S. 406, The Small-Business Health Fairness Act, crafted by Sens. Olympia Snowe (Maine) and James Talent (Mo.) and S. 1955, The Health Insurance Marketplace Modernization and Affordability Act of 2005, which was recently introduced by Sen. Michael B. Enzi (Wyo.), chairman of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee.
Both bills have given the issue of Small-Business Health Plans some much needed momentum in the Senate, but neither bill currently seems to be on a fast track to the Senate floor for a vote.
Momentum toward the goal is always encouraging, but for the millions of Americans without health insurance, momentum is still just talk. This year, urgent action is needed to ensure that millions of small-business owners, their families and employees enjoy future holidays without the worry that comes from having no health coverage.
Small Business Focus is a bimonthly column written by the National Federation of Independent Business President and CEO Jack Faris. NFIB, the nation's largest small-business advocacy organization, represents the consensus views of over 600,000 members across the country with offices in Washington, D.C. and all 50 state capitals.
