11/17/2008
In the coming weeks, NFIB.com will be taking a look at several top small business issues the 111th Congress is expected to tackle.
After a long and grueling election season, members of the 111th Congress have their work cut out for them. NFIB looks forward to working with all of the members—both new and incumbent—on finding solutions to the top small business problems.
Healthcare reform
As costs continue to skyrocket, healthcare remains the No. 1 problem affecting small business owners. It played a central role in this year's election, with many candidates detailing their ideas on ways to fix the broken healthcare system.
According to a recent survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Health Research and Educational Trust, yearly premiums for family healthcare coverage have risen 5 percent this year and have more than doubled since 1999. Small businesses have been hit hard with escalating costs, and many have been forced to pass more and more of the burden to their employees in order to continue to offer health insurance at all.
Healthcare has long been a priority for NFIB, and we know it's not an issue that will be easily solved. For two decades we have been fighting in Washington for a solution, most recently through the creation of Solutions Start Here, an aggressive campaign to urge policymakers to deliver real and meaningful healthcare reform for small business. We look forward to working with the 111th Congress to finally find an acceptable solution to this critical small business issue.
