Small-business owners are approaching health care reform with a mix of hope and trepidation.
They yearn for relief from spiraling premiums and a larger menu of choices but dread new mandates.
“One of the constant themes I have heard from small-business owners is that they cannot continue to sustain 10 to 15 percent increases in health-care costs every year,” said U.S. Rep. Glenn Nye, who held a small-business forum on health care in Virginia Beach last week .
Doña Storey, the president and CEO of Quality Technical Services Inc. and GOVtips.biz in Virginia Beach, said she’s regularly seen increases higher than that. She recalled a 76 percent spike in health-care costs in 2002.
The constant increases, she said, forced her to switch last year from paying all of her employees’ premiums to 60 percent – “the single toughest thing for me to go to our employees with.”
In interviews last week with a half-dozen small-business owners and managers, nearly all voiced frustration that they couldn’t provide more generous coverage to their workers.
“We have employees that don’t take it because they can’t afford it, and I hate that, because we’re a medical practice,” said Debra Myers, the business administrator of 1Foot 2Foot Centre for Foot and Ankle Care in Suffolk.
Among the top concerns Nye said he’s heard is a possible tax on those who make more than $280,000 a year. That, he said, would amount to “double taxation” on small-business owners who already pay for employee health insurance.
The main worry voiced in the interviews, though, was an onslaught of federal mandates, such as requirements that all businesses provide health coverage. “A lot of small businesses just don’t have the revenue stream to be able to support that,” said Robert Taborn, president and CEO of Crewestone Technologies Inc. in Hampton.
A bill that advanced in the House last week would require most businesses to provide health-care benefits but would exempt those with annual payrolls of less than $500,000.
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Marty Hierholzer, president MJL Enterprises LLC in Virginia Beach Contractor providing industrial equipment to military and federal agencies. 12 full-time employees
Do you provide health coverage to your employees? Yes.
What percentage of the premiums do you cover? 75 percent. We dropped from 100 percent last year because of the rising costs.
Are you hopeful or worried about the health-care bill in Congress? I’m hopeful the health-care bill will provide quality care and stop the rising costs of health care without putting an undue burden for paying them on small-business owners.
What is the best thing it could accomplish? It could make health care more available and affordable not only to individuals, but to employees of small businesses and large businesses alike.
What is your biggest fear? My biggest fears are that if the bill is passed, the availability and quality of care do not increase; that individuals who make over a certain income figure – $280,000 – will be taxed unfairly to pay for the change, and that small businesses will be mandated to provide a certain type of care and the cost will have to come out of their bottom line.
From the small businessman’s perspective, we want to employ as many people as we can, which helps the economy. Anything that is cast upon us, as far as mandated costs, starts to interfere with our ability to hire, because profits have to be thrown at that.
What else should it include or avoid? It needs to include choices. Obviously, when you have more choices, you get competition, which fosters lower prices. I don’t think it should include penalties for businesses that don’t offer health care – either a tax penalty or some other type of penalty that makes you ineligible for government small-business benefits.
Should the government require businesses to provide health coverage? No. They should create some type of program whereby small businesses could pool together and buy into a quality affordable health-care plan for their employees.
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Takis Karangelen, majority owner Azalea Inn Grill in Norfolk. 35 full-time employees
Do you provide health coverage to your employees? Less than half.
What percentage of the premiums do you cover? 100 percent.
Are you hopeful or worried about the health-care bill in Congress? I’m worried a lot because nobody knows what the bill is all about. I don’t understand why the president and (Speaker of the House Nancy) Pelosi want to rush it through Congress.
What is the best thing it could accomplish? We all know that health care is going out of control, and something has to happen. We should have a health-care program that all Americans in this beautiful country of ours should be insured and can go to the hospital or the doctor and take care of their problems.
What is your biggest fear? It worries me that the government wants to have its hands on this. We’re doing just fine without their intervention.
What else should it include or avoid? They should at least talk to us. We are the backbone of success of this country. Let’s put all our thoughts together and put together a nice health-care bill. I don’t want a very careless health program that’s not going to work and will be controlled by the government. We know how the government works.
Should the government require businesses to provide health coverage? No. They should include a program that everybody can afford, and they should let us choose whether to participate in that health-care program.
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Debra Myers, business administrator 1Foot 2Foot Centre for Foot and Ankle Care in Suffolk 15 full-time employees
Do you provide health coverage to your employees? Yes.
What percentage of the premiums do you cover? 50 percent for employees, none for family members.
Are you hopeful or worried about the health-care bill in Congress? I would say worried, concerned. I think their focus is going to be more on individuals that don’t have jobs or businesses where employers can’t offer a health plan. I don’t think it’s going to help a business like us that’s up and running, but we can’t afford to pay 100 percent of health insurance.
What is the best thing it could accomplish? To help smaller employers and to get insurance companies to keep premiums down. We have employees that don’t take it because they can’t afford it, and I hate that, because we’re a medical practice.
What is your biggest fear? My biggest concern is that they’re not looking at the big picture, that their focal point is one group or area, instead of the big picture.
What else should it include or avoid? It needs to include everyone, not just small businesses. They need to look at insurance companies and the monopoly they have.
Should the government require businesses to provide health coverage? I would say yes. If you’re going to work for a company and give your loyalty and dedication, then employers should offer you health insurance. They have to give something back.
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Doña Storey, president and CEO Quality Technical Services Inc./GOVtips.biz in Virginia Beach Project manager for large facility projects/tips on doing business with the government. 18 full-time employees
Do you provide health coverage to your employees? Yes.
What percentage of the premiums do you cover? 60 percent. A few years ago, we stopped paying 100 percent. That was the single toughest thing for me to go to our employees with. We’re holding the line at 60 percent.
Are you hopeful or worried about the health-care bill in Congress? We are scared to death.
What is the best thing it could accomplish? To absolutely stop trying to Band-Aid a broken system. Our system needs re-engineering. Fixing the system will be painful. If I’m going to be taking the pain, I want to see a real fix. I’m not into a political fix.
What is your biggest fear? My biggest fear is that the government could find a way to say, we’ll just manage and handle this for you. The government should take a look at the regulatory nature, where you should be playing a role, not management. I don’t believe that politicians, academics and pure businesspeople should be making health-care decisions. I believe the roundtable should be truly rounded by health-care providers, guys like my doctor, who can say: Let me tell you what’s happening day to day. When an employee calls into the weekend hotline, I don’t want the decision to be based on what is the cost.
What else should it include or avoid? I want to increase competition – that’s what I’m all about. Anything that limits choice by individuals and businesses is what we should avoid. This is America, the land of the free, and we should keep to that.
Should the government require businesses to provide health coverage? Absolutely not.
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Scott Stroud, managing director Graham Funeral Home in Chesapeake. Four full-time employees
Do you provide health coverage to full-time employees? Yes.
What percentage of the premiums do you cover? 100 percent.
Are you hopeful or worried about the health-care bill in Congress? Greatly worried. The current government medical program, Medicaid, is greatly abused. Plus, most of our congressmen who will vote on the bill have not had adequate time to read and study the bill in its entirety, thereby having no idea what they are dealing with.
What is the best thing it could accomplish? Place a cap on medical malpractice and provide a piece of simple-to-understand legislation that will provide for those who need it and allow those with private health insurance to retain what they have.
What is your biggest fear? That it will cause businesses to drop coverage as they yield to the government plan to the detriment of employees.
What else should it include or avoid? Cost control and not increase the deficit.
Should the government require businesses to provide health coverage? No. Businesses are over-regulated, and each regulation simply increases costs to the consumer, who gains no advantage from these excess regulations.
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Robert Taborn, president and CEO Crewestone Technologies Inc. in Hampton Media and communications company specializing in video production. 38 full-time employees
Do you provide health coverage to your employees? Yes.
What percentage of the premiums do you cover? 60 percent.
Are you hopeful or worried about the health-care bill in Congress? As a citizen, I’m very hopeful.
I feel that there are a lot of people in need of health-care services and just can’t afford them. As a business owner, I’m somewhat concerned about a federal mandate that all small businesses will have to do it. A lot of small businesses just don’t have the revenue stream to be able to support that.
What is the best thing it could accomplish? It will put more money back into the pockets of the working class. The government system will probably make it a little bit more competitive on the insurance industry, which I hope would drive down prices.
What is your biggest fear? I have no tremendous fears, as long as it provides the same level of services that a small-business owner is providing employees or what Congress is getting. Anything less than that could be a waste of time. But something is better than nothing.
What else should it include or avoid? People should be able to see the specialist they need and treat any condition they have. There will probably be a cap on that coverage, so that’s a sort of concern. What would the cutoff point be for the government?
Should the government require businesses to provide health coverage? No. If it is mandated, it will definitely cripple the small entrepreneur. It will deter people from opening a business. That’s another burden put in the way of jump-starting any type of business.
Philip Walzer, (757) 222-3864, phil.walzer@pilotonline.com
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Read My Lips, take 2
Another one for the "Lie" column: Prez. Barack O'Bush is hedging on yet another campaign promise: "Anyone making less than $250 large will not see their taxes increase one dime . . ." (or was it a nickel?) Whatever . . . .
His tax dodging Treasury head Geithman was on the talk circuit this weekend setting the stage for his boss & our complicit Congress to up the taxes on the middle class now to pay for all this "healthcare."
(Now don't get too upset - all those illegals BHO is getting ready to grant amnesty to need good {free} healthcare, too.)
Once upon a time...NO RATIONING
For months now since Health care reform suddenly become the main issue on the national agenda. We have been bombarded with the incessant accusation that the English/British form of the single-payer system is about unequivocal--RATIONING? YES! This is the truth now, but it wasn't always that way. It wasn't until the Globalist plan to take over the originally named Common Market, that health care in England started to suffer. In Jan. 1, 1973, original known to Brits as the Common Market. The “One Market” that was created in 1993 states that people, money, services, and trade can move freely within the European Union. Currently over 450 million EU citizens are provided with these special options.
The indigenous British people's lives had already been disrupted by the importation of cheap labor from Commonwealth countries to drive the buses and run British Railway. Then family unification started and illegal immigration and the beginning of spiraling crime. RATIONING AND REDUCED HEALTH CARE CAME TO ENGLAND WITH AN OVERLOAD OF LEGAL AND ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION, SUDDENLY THE UNITED KINGDOM FOUND THEMSELVES IN A TERRIBLE QUANDARY OF HUNDREDS OF THOUSAND OF REFUGEES AND ASYLUM SEE
"Should the government
"Should the government require businesses to provide health coverage? I would say yes. If you’re going to work for a company and give your loyalty and dedication, then employers should offer you health insurance. They have to give something back"
They do give you something for your loyalty and dedication...its called a paycheck!
Biased reporting on the small business health care issue
Did anyone other than me notice that the question and answer at the end of the column began and ended with business owners who are in favor of the current plan in Congress? This is biased reporting. If you're going to write a story in the newspaper, you need do a better job. If you ask questions of small business owners, do a non-biased, scientific survey... unless, of course, your point is to encourage people to support what you're writing about. My belief is that a real survey of small business owners would have a 90%+ negative response.
Current regulations are the problem
State and Federal regulations prevent small businesses from banding together to form groups large enough to get favorable rates or to self-insure.
I am a dentist with two employees. VA law requires me to seek insurance as a group of three, one of whom is a breast cancer survivor. That is too small a group to spread the risk.
But if all the dentists in the state could form a single group including all our employees, we could get good rates. If all the dentists in the nation could join a single group, we would have bargaining power on a par with WalMart.
The same applies to most small businesses of other types, but state and federal law prevent us from doing so. If it is desired that small businesses offer insurance, removing those barriers is the first step.
You could unionize...
I don't know what all the regulations are that you speak of, but unions often do exactly what you're talking about. IBEW 1340 had it's own health fund, funded by all member employers on the Peninsula. That changed when we moved to a much larger fund, but it still the same concept, just a larger pool of contractors. Our coverage is a flat per hour for every employee and covers them, their spouse, and any children. Pre-existing conditions aren't a concern either, probably because out plan is big enough to spread the risk.
Restraint of trade
It is unlawful for independent small businesses to form a union or bargain collectively.
I think that is why the proponents of government health care want to keep an insurance like setup even for a single payer system. It prevents health care providers from having access to collective bargaining.
The rest of the world is smarter than we are
Every other industrialized nation has a single payer healthcare system, and they pay HALF per person what we pay for healthcare. Why? Because a single payer system doesn't have to pay admin overhead, marketing, and profit for 150 different insurance companies. And our businesses are at a disadvantage as a result. No wonder we can't compete.
Chriss33
Please explain why so many European Countries are starting to distance themselves from Socialism if it's working so well? (You also conveniently leave out the total cost in taxes these others pay when their health is coupled with all the other taxes they pay for their "utopian" lifes.)
BTW, you never answered the question posed to you in a much earlier post whether you're OK w/ telling your ailing elderly sibling/parent/
grandparent "tough toenails Ma - according to the rules you're just too old to waste resources on."
Q & A
I am confused. Who is asking the questions, and who is answering them?