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Limbo: Small Businesses Left Out in the Cold as Costly Gov't Takeover of Health Care Looms
GOP Leader: Uncertainty Surrounding Dems' Gov't Takeover fo Health Care Keeps People Out of Work As Small Businesses Forced to "Sit On Their Hands"
Washington
(Oct 20, 2009)
Democrats’ costly government takeover of health care is already harming the confidence of the nation’s entrepreneurs and costing our economy good-paying jobs – before being passed by a single house of Congress. That says a lot about just how dangerous the massive tax increases and harsh mandates at the heart of Democrats’ plans are for small businesses. Entrepreneurs say Democrats are “largely ignoring” them, going so far as to alter the government’s definition of a ‘small business’ in order to subject as many as possible to costly taxes and mandates. At a time when out-of-work families are asking, “where are the jobs,” the last thing Washington should be doing is discouraging small business growth. House Republicans have proposed better solutions to help them create jobs and provide quality, affordable health care to their employees.
A former small business owner, House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH) talked about how Democrats’ costly government takeover of health care is forcing entrepreneurs to “sit on their hands” last Thursday on Fox News’ America’s Newsroom:
“The American people are speaking loudly. I used to run a small business. I know what it takes to meet payroll. All of the uncertainty in the economy, or around their national energy tax, uncertainty over the government takeover of health care, is causing employers to sit on their hands because they do not know what is going to happen next. Not only are we not doing anything to help small business create jobs, we are creating this uncertainty about what the future will look like.”
AMERICA’S SMALL BUSINESSES IN LIMBO AS COSTLY GOV’T TAKEOVER OF HEALTH CARE LOOMS:
• “Employers Hold Off On Hiring. Companies across the economy are holding off on hiring … amid economic uncertainty… Businesses also face uncertainty about the potential costs of regulatory moves -- such as an expansion of health care and climate legislation -- that could drive up costs.” (The Wall Street Journal, 10/20/09)
• “Why is Obama’s reform plan largely ignoring small businesses? … Small business has had little input, and cost control has definitely taken a back seat to insuring more of the uninsured. …[M]ost legislation defines small business as companies with less than 50 employees. This stands in sharp contrast to the standard set by the Small Business Administration, which defines small business as manufacturing companies with less than 500 employees and nonmanufacturing firms with receipts of less than $7 million. The definition matters. Most plans in Congress set employer mandates at 50 employees or more, with no tax credits going to companies that are larger. Small businesses will have to offer the same levels of coverage as companies many times larger, and they’ll get no help to offset costs. The possibility of taxes on so-called high-cost insurance plans also could clobber small businesses like our family-owned packaging manufacturing business since we do offer fairly comprehensive coverage.” (Kevin Kelly, California-based small business owner, Newsweek.com, 10/12/09)
• Majority of Small Employers “Very Concerned” Gov’t Takeover of Health Care Will Drive Up Costs. “The rising cost of health care is one of the top issues for small business owners, ranking second only to the economy, a survey by City Business Journals Network found. A majority of small employers say they’re very concerned that changes in the system under President Obama’s reform proposals will fail to deal with rising expenses and will end up costing them more. More than half also say they’re very worried reform is going to drive up the U.S. deficit, ultimately hurting their businesses.” (Portfolio.com, 9/17/09)
House Republicans have reached out to America’s small business owners and proposed better solutions to help them create jobs and provide quality, affordable health care to their employees, including genuine legal reform, policies that incentivize wellness, and expanded health savings accounts (HSAs) to provide additional flexibility to small businesses.
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