04/ 02/ 2008
NFIB member and child care provider testifies before U.S. House Small Business Committee
As Congress started in 2008, the House Small Business Committee heard yet another firsthand story from a small business owner about the effects of the healthcare crisis on our nation's entrepreneurs.
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 a proprietor of a home-based child care business located in Lockport, N.Y. She has been an in-home child care provider for 18 years and serves 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.
"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 says "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 healthcare is at a critical tipping point. Something must be done to improve access to and affordability of healthcare."
When committee members asked Sandman about potential solutions to ease the cost crunch facing small business, she encouraged Congress to enact legislation that would give small businesses the tools to:
- Pool across state lines.
- Create transparency processes to measure cost and quality in the healthcare system.
- Equalize tax treatment so that the self-employed would be treated the same as large employers.
This article is from the April/May 2008 issue of MyBusiness.
