Small businesses need Health Insurance Partnership
11 03 08 - 11:40
By JODY HALL
GUEST COLUMNIST
Small businesses are hit hard by the health care crisis. More than 200,000 small business employees in Washington are uninsured.
Even those with coverage are not secure. Premiums for small businesses have increased faster than for large businesses, and the quality of coverage they receive is lower.
Lawmakers in Olympia have designed a program to help.
The Health Insurance Partnership would help make quality coverage choices affordable for small businesses. Participating businesses and employees would save by paying premiums with pre-tax dollars. Low-wage small business employees would receive premium assistance.
The program is effective because the responsibility is shared among employers, employees and the government.
Since 2006, when the concept was first introduced, the Partnership has been extensively vetted by lawmakers and designed by the Health Care Authority. But it has not yet been implemented.
On Friday, the Senate followed the House's lead and passed legislation to implement the Partnership. But, so far only the House has included the funding necessary to realize this goal in its budget proposal.
Why, when a health care partnership with small business is finally within our grasp, are some business lobbies opposing it and giving state senators pause?
In a recent column, the president of the Association of Washington Business, Don Brunell, shuns the Partnership and any government role in making health care affordable. Instead, he promotes the use of Association Health Plans, which his association sells. He worries the Partnership will be in "direct competition with the private [association health] plans that are working so well for many small employers."
Normally a proponent of competition, Brunell sings a different tune when he perceives a threat to the health plans his association uses to generate revenue and recruit members.
Just how well are Association Health Plans working for small businesses?
DoriLea Gaffaney, owner of a retail shop called the Soap Box, has an Association Plan through the National Association for the Self Employed. She pays $682 per month for a policy with a $5,000 deductible. Last year, she had to put off a surgery for a tumor on her kidney because she couldn't afford the bills.
Linnea Lundmark, a merchant in the Pike Place Market, just received notification of a massive 38 percent rate increase from her Association Plan. Her new premium will be $820 per month. The reason? Association Plans are allowed wide latitude to discriminate based on age and health status. Lundmark is now 59 years old and has health issues to address. At the point in life when she needs coverage the most, she can no longer afford it.
The experiences of small business owners tell a different story than the presidents of business associations.
My own health care premium went up by 40 percent last year for the same plan. I spend nearly as much on health care for my employees as I do on rent for my three store locations. Along with other business owners, I am not content with the status quo of escalating costs and deteriorating quality.
Who will lawmakers trust -- shop owners like me, or the big associations? It is time for the Senate to do the right thing for small businesses and implement the Health Insurance Partnership.
Jody Hall is the owner of Cupcake Royale and Vérité Coffee, a small business with locations in Ballard, Madrona and West Seattle. She is a member of the Washington Small Business for Secure Health Care Coalition.