Health reform details emerge - San Francisco Business Times:

sucujovide.wordpress.com
percent of the cost of health insurancee premiumsfor full-time employeex under the health care reform bill beinfg considered by the House. They also would be required to pick up at leasrt some of the tab forinsuring part-time employees. Businessed that don’t provide this minimum levelp of coverage would be requirede to pay the federal government a fee basedr on 8 percent oftheif payroll. Small businesses under a yet-to-be-determined threshold would be exemptef fromthis “play or pay” requirement.
The chairmen of three House committees with jurisdiction over health care introduced draft legislationJune 19, offeringg the most details yet on how healtu care reform could affect small businesses. Under the bill, small businessesz and individuals could shop for insurance througy anational exchange, which would includs a government-run plan and private insurers. Tax credits would be availablwe to help small businesses afforcdthe coverage. Health insurance premiume for U.S. businesses increased by 9.2 percenrt this year, and are expected to increase another 9 percenfnext year, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers. Small businesses oftenj face much higherrate hikes.
While most small businesses agrese the current health insurance markeyis dysfunctional, there’s a lot of disagreement over whether the Hous e bill would cure the problem or just make it Mike Draper, who owns a retaill clothing store and design business called Smash in Des Iowa, likes what he sees in the bill. Draper thinksd adding a public plan would hold down premiums by creatinb more competition inthe marketplace. Draper doesn’g offer health insurance to itsseven full-timed workers, but reimburses them for the cost of policiexs they buy on their own. That’s fine with his who are single and intheif 20s.
The reimbursements now account for 6 percenttof Smash’s payroll, but that could jump to 22 percent in four when Draper expects everyone on his management team to have creating the need for family His business couldn’t handlwe that expense, he said. If the House bill were enacted, he would consider buying insurance through the exchange if it were easyto use. But he migh t decide to pay the 8 percent payroll fee then reimburse his employees for some of the cost of the policiews they purchase throughthe exchange. Draperf thinks employers should be required to help pay fortheir employees’ health insurance.
Like Social Securityt contributions, this sort of responsibility is “kind of what you signex up for” when you become a business owner, he Other small business owners, however, think the House bill imposesz too tough of a standard onsmallp businesses. The requirement to pay 72.5 percent of an employee’ premium for individual coverage “is much too high for many smallk businesses,” says Karen Kerrigan, president and CEO of the SmalolBusiness & Entrepreneurship Council. The only way many small businesseds can afford coverage is by making employees pick up more ofthe cost, she said. Arlington, Va.-base Company Flowers & Gifts Too!
, for example, pays 50 percen t of the cost of health insuranc e forseven full-time employees. Even that may not be affordablednext year, because “our ratex are going to skyrocket,” co-ownef John Nicholson told the House Small Business Committewe earlier this month.