01/23/2008
NFIB member testifies before House Small Business Committee
CONTACT: Stephanie Cathcart, 202-314-2056
WASHINGTON, D.C.--Chairwoman Nydia M. Velázquez, ranking member Steve Chabot and the House Small Business Committee heard yet another firsthand story today from a small-business owner about the effects of the health care crisis on our nation's entrepreneurs.
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NFIB member Cathey Sandman (right) discusses her health care crisis with House Small Business Committee Chairwoman Nydia M. Velázquez. |
NFIB member Cathey Sandman, owner of Sandman Family Daycare, was invited to share her perspective before the full committee hearing on "Limited Health Care Options for Small Businesses in the Small Group Market." Sandman is a seven-year NFIB member and proprietor of a home-based childcare business located in Lockport, N.Y. She has been an in-home child care provider for 18 years and services 13 families (and up to 18 children in any given week). Recently she was forced to make the decision to give up health insurance because of ever-increasing costs and, in today's testimony, shared her story:
"The health care cost crisis affects two specific small-business sectors--those who are insured and struggling to keep up with a 100 percent increase over the last six years and the 27 million in the small-business community who are uninsured. NFIB members represent both of these sectors. I once was an NFIB member with insurance. Today, I am an NFIB member with no health insurance--for myself or my family.
"Five years ago, my husband joined my business as my assistant and business partner. We then had to purchase our own health insurance and found it expensive but affordable. But premium increase after premium increase began to threaten our ability to maintain our insurance. In October 2007, my husband and I made the difficult decision to give up our health insurance.
"It was not an easy choice, but after the last few premium increases the monthly cost for our health insurance was the same as the cost of our monthly mortgage payment. Since I am self-employed and work out of my home, I felt there was no other choice. I need a place to live. I need a place to work. But I simply could no longer afford to pay the equivalent of a second mortgage payment."
Time was not on Sandman's side--just two weeks after becoming uninsured, she became ill and had to have surgery. Her medical and hospital bills totaled $10,000. Today, she is on a payment plan with the hospital to pay these costs but comments that "every dollar spent is a dollar I cannot use to purchase health insurance (either)."
"Back home in Niagara County, I am not alone in this struggle. …The health insurance crisis is on everyone's mind. …It is vitally important that something changes and soon. …I deeply believe that health care is at a critical tipping point. Something must be done to improve access to and affordability of health care."
Last month, in a bold first step, NFIB released its "Small Business Principles for Health Care Reform." Considered the "stake in the ground" moving forward in the health care debate, the principles act as a foundation for what small businesses would like to see in reform moving forward. Included is support for policy reforms to balance the competing goals of access to quality care, affordability, predictability and consumer choice. The resulting health care system would be based on ten principles: universal, private, affordable, unbiased, competitive, portable, transparent, efficient, evidence-based, and realistic.
