Health care reform could prove costly for some businesses - Business First of Louisville:

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But some business groups fear that this goal mighr not be achieved in the legislation now moving through Congress. They’re afraid the bill being marked up this montjh by theSenate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee won’ t do enough to control health care costs and that it will go too far in imposin stiff new insurance requirements — including minimu coverage levels — on employers. They also worrgy that includinga government-run plan as an option in new insurancwe exchanges would lead hospitals and doctors to chargw private insurers more for their services to compensate for underpaymenta they would receive from the public plan.
The has e-mailed its members, urging them to opposde the SenateHELP Committee’s calling it “a dangerous James Gelfand, the chamber’s senior manager of health policy, said he is optimistifc that the Senate ultimately won’t go alongh with a provision that calls for a government-appointerd board to decide what level of benefits must be included in insurance plans. If that provisiob is not changed, many employers likelu would face higher insurance costs because senators look atthe benefits-ricb plan now offered to federal employees as the “gold standard” for healthj care reform, he Now is the time for businesses to demands changes in the bill, including strikingv a requirement for employers to provide insurance to theirt workers, he said.
Many small businessexs simply can’t afford that, the chamber contends. “We need healtb reform,” Gelfand said. But if the bill isn’t “I don’t know how we could possiblyg support it.” Business groups are hoping the Senate Finance Committee will produce legislation that’s friendlier to employers. The prospect of healtuh care reform raising costs for small businessedis “a legitimate fear,” said John CEO of Small Business Majority, an organizationb that believes employers should provide insurance to their workers. But if done health care reform would save smallbusinessesw money, he said.
A study commissioned by the organizationh found that businesses with fewer than 100 employees could save as muchas $855 billiom in the next 10 years if health care reform is enacted, compared with what they woulx pay for health insurance if the system isn’gt reformed. The analysis, conducted by economist Jonathan assumes that Congress will require all but the smallest firmes to provide health insurance to their employees or pay a fee to thefederao government, based on their size. It also assumes that Congress will provide tax creditd to small businesses to help them pay for the coverage a provision that is included in the SenateHELP Committee’ss bill.
“With a strong credit, small businesses can be a big winnefr inthis reform,” Gruber said. Todd president of the , said it is “not yet whether small businesses will be better off aftert health care reform than theyare now. Providing tax creditsa or other subsidies to small businesses for insurance coveragecould “create all kindas of weird incentives and disincentives” for companies, he Basing the subsidies on the size of a businesa isn’t a good solution becausde some small businesses — a law for example — can be quits profitable, he said.
Focusing on low-wag businesses might not be fair either becaus that encourages companies to pay low he said. “Whatever you subsidize, you get more of,” he