Healthcare
Our current system of providing health insurance and healthcare is in crisis. One thing is clear: Small business owners need meaningful reform, not the status quo. Since 1986, our members have said increasing healthcare costs is their No. 1 problem. As our leaders pursue healthcare reform, it is imperative that proposals offer solutions to the serious challenges that small business owners and their employees face.
We’ve worked hard to earn a coveted seat at the table with healthcare policymakers on Capitol Hill and in the White House. As healthcare reform legislation moves forward, we will continue to advocate for policies that make healthcare more affordable for small business owners and their employees. Our top three priorities are addressing costs, choice and competition.
Forcing employers to offer health insurance, plain and simple, will cost America jobs and revenue, and inhibit small businesses from growing. It’s a bad idea any time, but is particularly destructive in the current economic environment. Government-run healthcare is also not an option that helps small business owners or their employees.
Our Research Foundation has done extensive work on healthcare policy, including a groundbreaking study that tested nine reform scenarios and their effect on small business. Other research looks at possible remedies for rising healthcare costs, the effects of an employer mandate and more.
There are bills that have been already introduced in both the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House, and there are more to come. Not all of these bills are comprehensive; some concentrate on incremental reform (for example, the SHOP Act). Check back often to stay informed about the various bills as they are introduced.
Solutions Start Here is an aggressive campaign that we created to urge policymakers to find real solutions to the healthcare crisis. Our leaders need to be held accountable and deliver reforms that meet the needs of our country’s job creators. Share your healthcare story and join the campaign. Because when it’s fixed for small business, it’s fixed for America.