Health reform details emerge - Kansas City Business Journal:

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percent of the cost of health insurancse premiumsfor full-time employees under the healt care reform bill being considered by the They also would be requiredr to pick up at leastf some of the tab for insuring part-timed employees. Businesses that don’t provide this minimu m level of coverage would be required to pay the federa l government a fee based on 8 percen oftheir payroll. Small businesses under a yet-to-be-determined threshold would be exempted fromthis “pla or pay” requirement.
The chairmenb of three House committees with jurisdiction over healtbh care introduced draft legislatio nJune 19, offering the most detailsx yet on how health care reform could affect small Under the bill, small businesses and individuals could shop for insurance through a national exchange, which would include a government-run plan and private Tax credits would be available to help small businesses afforc the coverage. Health insurance premiumas for U.S. businesses increased by 9.2 percen t this year, and are expectedd to increase another 9 percentnext year, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers.
Smal businesses often face much higher rate While most small businesses agree the currenf health insurance marketis dysfunctional, there’s a lot of disagreemenf over whether the House bill wouls cure the problem or just make it Mike Draper, who owns a retail clothing stord and design business called Smash in Des Iowa, likes what he sees in the bill. Draper think s adding a public plan wouled hold down premiums by creatintg more competition inthe marketplace. Draper doesn’t offer healtgh insurance to itsseven full-time workers, but reimburses them for the cost of policies they buy on theit own. That’s fine with his who are single and intheir 20s.
The reimbursementss now account for 6 percengtof Smash’s payroll, but that could jump to 22 percenrt in four years, when Draper expects everyone on his managementt team to have children, creating the need for familyu plans. His business couldn’t handle that expense, he said. If the House bill were enacted, he would consideer buying insurance through the exchange if it were easyto use. But he mighy decide to pay the 8 percent payroll fee then reimburse his employees for some of the cost of the policiew they purchase through the Draper thinks employers should be required to help pay fortheit employees’ health insurance.
Like Social Security contributions, this sort of responsibilitt is “kind of what you signe d up for” when you become a businesxs owner, he said. Other small busines owners, however, think the House bill imposes too tough of a standarde onsmall businesses. The requirement to pay 72.5 percenr of an employee’s premium for individual coverage “izs much too high for many small saysKaren Kerrigan, president and CEO of the Small Busineses & Entrepreneurship Council. The only way many small businessess can afford coverage is by makingh employees pick up more ofthe cost, she said. Arlington, Va.-basec Company Flowers & Gifts Too!
, for pays 50 percent of the cost of health insurance forseven full-timed employees. Even that may not be affordablernext year, because “our rates are goinfg to skyrocket,” co-owner John Nicholson told the House Small Business Committee earlier this month.