Thursday, March 11, 2010 4:56 PM
Chamber Ads Divide Small Biz
(Credit: Richard A. Bloom)
Updated with U.S. Chamber comment at 12:09 p.m. on March 12.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce says it's fighting for small businesses, but not all small-business owners appreciate the effort.
After the chamber's launched its $4 million ad campaign against the health care bill Tuesday, the progressive Main Street Alliance pushed back, saying its members were being misrepresented and left without voice in the reform debate.
The Main Street Alliance, which represents about 10,000 small-business owners, is taking an aggressive stance against the chamber's ads and sent a handful of its members to protest an insurance industry convention this week. Illinois small-business owner Dan Sherry, who sits on the group's national board, said he was "at the front lines" of the protest because the alliance "wants Congress to listen to small-business owners, not the chamber." After the protests, Sherry met with a number of Illinois legislative aides to discuss his coalition's outlook.
"The U.S Chamber claims they talk for us when the truth is they're a fully owned subsidiary in the pockets of the insurance companies," Sherry said. "They represent strictly large businesses. To me it's an absolute tragedy that most Americans think that whatever the chamber says is the voice of small business when it's not."
That's not an accurate portrayal of the group's motives, says James Gelfand, the chamber's senior manager of health policy, who claims the reform stance "is 100 percent driven by the effects that it would have on premium payers, not on the people who would collect premiums."
While MSA supports the Senate health care bill because it "provides subsidies, helps small businesses provide for their employees and levels the playing field," Employers for a Healthy Economy, a group that supports the chamber's ad campaign, countered that the bill is "unaffordable" and will end up costing small businesses more in state penalties.
Not outright supporters of the chamber, but "in line" with their position on small businesses, the 350,000-member-strong National Federation of Independent Business called the bill "devastating" due to the employer mandates it will impose. NFIB spokesperson Stephanie Cathcart said costs "will be passed on to us, the little guys."
Molly Brogan, vice president of public affairs for the National Small Business Association, characterized her group's position as "somewhere between the two" extremes in an e-mail to National Journal.
"We've been calling for broad reform of the health care system since 2004, but it's got to be the right reform, and it's got to be affordable --which I think is the underlying issue [the chamber's] ads are trying to point out," she said.
Brogan said her organization agrees with the chamber that the costs of employer mandates are "unaffordable," but supports "long-term reductions in premium cost -- not just short-term tax credits."
"This debate is too important to walk away from or scrap entirely," Brogan continued, "but it's also too important not to get it done right."
Mike Jones
Saturday, January 29, 2011
After the chamber's launched its $4 million ad campaign against the health care bill Tuesday, the progressive Main Street Alliance pushed back, saying its members were being misrepresented and left without voice in the reform debate. Regards, Mary CNA and free cna training
tc
Monday, March 15, 2010
What small business does SEIU in the above picture represnt?
John Arensmeyer
Saturday, March 13, 2010
The defeat of healthcare reform in 1994 has subjected small business owners to 16 years of unchecked insurance premium increases. Millions of small businesses have been forced out of the health insurance market due to high costs. Our research shows that if we do nothing, healthcare costs for small businesses will increase $2.4 trillion over the next 10 years.
The healthcare reform bill before Congress offers small businesses much-needed relief from this unacceptable state of affairs. Small businesses will be part of large state insurance pools, or "exchanges," where multi-state plans will be offered across state lines and prices will be reduced due to increased competition, transparency and economies of scale. Insurance reforms will put an end to discriminatory practices that drive up premiums, such as denying coverage because of health status, age or preexisting conditions. This will especially help the 22 million self-employed Americans who typically purchase insurance on the individual market, and who’ve recently been subject to double and triple-digit rate hikes. It will provide tax credits to 3.6 million small business owners in 2010, which will help them afford insurance for their employees and themselves. And, there are substantial cost containment provisions that will begin to reduce premium inflation. It is not perfect, but it is a dramatic improvement over the status quo.
Moreover, businesses with fewer than 50 employees (more than 95 percent of small businesses) are exempt from any requirements to offer insurance.
The bottom line is that small business owners cannot afford another 16 years of exploding healthcare costs. The reform legislation pending in Congress is a necessary next step to rectifying this unsustainable situation.
John Arensmeyer
Founder & CEO, Small Business Majority
Karen Kerrigan
Friday, March 12, 2010
Small business owners are fiercely opposed to the current health care overhaul legislation moving through Congress. If the Main Street Alliance's view is the predominant view among small business owners (not to mention the broader public) needless to say this legislation would have already been signed by President Obama. The employer mandates, new taxes and regulatory burdens in the bill are no trade off for the measly tax credits (temporary, restrictive and tiny) that are called for in the legislation. Furthermore, the price tag of the bill is far too expensive and the cost of health care will not go down. Small business owners are losers under this legislation.
As a member of Employers for a Healthy Economy (the entity that the U.S. Chamber is running ads on behalf of) and the StartOver! coalition (representing more than 230 business organizations that largely represent small businesses), the Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council stands fully in line with the U.S. Chamber's opposition to this misguided and costly legislation. Congress is getting the accurate view of small business on where we stand with respect to the bill. Unfortunately, they continue to waste valuable time pushing a bad bill that will ultimately go nowhere rather than focusing on bipartisan reforms to bring some relief to our nation's small business owners.
Karen Kerrigan, President & CEO, Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council (SBE Council)