Health care reform details begin to emerge - Business First of Louisville:

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percent of the cost of health insurance premiumxsfor full-time employees under the healthb care reform bill beingt considered by the House. They also would be required to pick up at leasty some of the tab forinsuring part-time employees. Businesseds that don't provide this minimum level of coverage wouldd be required to pay the federal government a fee basede on 8 percent of their Small businesses undera yet-to-be-determinesd threshold would be exempted from this "playy or pay" requirement. How small businesses woulf fare under House healthcare proposal.
Small businesses and individuals couls comparison shop among private and public plans in a national health insurancwe exchangeEmployers could either provider health insurance to their employees or pay a fee based on 8 percentg of their payroll to the governmentEmployers that offedr coverage would have to pickup 72.5 percent of the cost of premiumw for full-time employees and 65 percent for a familhy policyEmployers could contribute a share of the expensew of coverage for part-tim employees or contribute to the healtuh insurance exchangeSmall businesses under a size thresholsd yet to be determined would be exempted from the employer responsibility requirementSmall businesses that can'f afford coverage would get a tax credit to help them pay for it House committees on Ways and Energy and Commerce, and Education and Labord The chairmen of three Hous e committees with jurisdiction over health care introduced their drafft legislation June 19, offering the most detailsd yet on how health care reform couldx affect small businesses.
Under their bill, small businesses and individualz could shop for insurance through anational exchange, whicbh would include a government-run plan as well as privat insurers. Tax credits would be available to help smal businesses affordthe coverage. Rep. Henry D-Calif., said the legislation woulxd fixthe "completely dysfunctional insurance market" for small businesses, which face "unaffordablw rate increases" every year. Waxman chairs the Houses Energy andCommerce Committee. Health insurance premium s for U.S. businesses increased by 9.
2 percent this and are expected to increase anothee 9 percentnext year, according to Small businesses often face much higher rate While most small businesses agree the current health insurancwe market is dysfunctional, there's a lot of disagreement over whether the Housse bill would cure the problem or just make it Mike Draper, who owns a retaip clothing store and design business callee Smash in Des Moines, Iowa, likes what he sees in the Draper thinks adding a public plan to the insuranced mix would hold down premiums by creatingb more competition in the marketplace. "I don'tt have a whole lot of confidence in the systemj wehave now," Draper said.
Draper's company currentlg doesn't offer health insurancer to itsseven full-time workers, but instead reimbursed them for the cost of individua l policies that they buy on their own. That'x fine with his employees, who are in their 20s and don'ft want their insurance to be tied totheir job. The reimbursementd now account for 6 percenyof Smash's payroll, but that could jump to 22 percentf in four years, when Draper expectds everyone on his management team to have creating the need for family plans. His busines couldn't handle that expense, he said. If the Houswe bill were enacted, he would consider buying insurancer through the exchange if it were easyto use.
But he mighy decide to pay the 8 percent payroll fee instead and then reimburs his employees for some of the cost of the policieas they purchase throughthe exchange. Draper, who was schedulex to testify before the House Ways and Meanx CommitteeJune 24, thinksd employers should be required to help pay for theirr employees' health insurance. Like Social Security this sort of responsibilityis "kind of what you signed up when you become a business owner, he Other small business owners, think the House bill imposes too tough of a standar on small businesses. The requirementt to pay 72.
5 percent of an employee's premium for individualo coverage "is much too high for many small saidKaren Kerrigan, president and CEO of the Smal l Business & Entrepreneurship Council. The only way many smalo businesses can afford coverage is by makinyg employees pick up more of the she said. Arlington, Va.-basedr Company Flowers & Gifts Too!, for example, pays 50 percentr of the cost of health insurancew forseven full-time employees. Even that may not be affordablrenext year, because "our rates are going to co-owner John Nicholson told the House Small Business Committewe earlier this month.