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Small businesses to receive some benefits from Obama’s healthcare reform |
| Updated: June 16, 2010 |
Appeared in the Daily Iowan June 15, 2010
By Grace Savides
Employee health care was always a priority for Prairie Lights Books founder Jim Harris — a tradition co-owner Jan Weissmiller wants to keep alive.
“There are people who have worked here for 20 or 25 years, and it’s very important that they have those benefits,” she said. “It’s essential.”
While health care is a goal for Weissmiller — who was visited in the Iowa City bookstore by President Obama after he touted his health insurance reform here in March — she’s unsure what exactly the new reform will mean for small businesses.
And she is not alone.
Business owners with the same questions gathered at a roundtable discussion organized by the Iowa Mainstreet Alliance on Monday night.
Sitting in the Haunted Bookshop — which hosted the discussion — Sue Dinsdale, an organizer for the Iowa Mainstreet Alliance, led a presentation, discussing various issues surrounding health-care reform.
“It seems like there’s a lot of confusion, and we want to give some broad strokes about the help it will give to small-business owners,” she said.
Dinsdale said some benefits for the owners will be available this fall, such as a 35 percent tax credit to help businesses with fewer than 25 employees cover the cost of employee health insurance.
Other changes will not appear until 2014, such as the health-insurance exchanges — regulated insurance marketplaces for both individuals and small businesses that have the goal of lowering the cost of insurance.
Peter Damiano, the director of the University of Iowa Public Policy Center, said the reforms will also stop companies from denying coverage for those with pre-existing conditions and ending lifetime and annual limits on coverage.
While he is unsure of how the price of insurance premiums will ultimately be affected, he said, there should be some improvements for small businesses on a number of issues.
However, some small-business owners are skeptical.
The Iowa City Area Chamber of Commerce, like the Iowa Mainstreet Alliance, has hosted discussions to present members with more information on health insurance.
Nancy Quellhorst, the CEO of the chamber, said members have concerns about the new law because of its complexity and unclear ramifications.
“There’s a great deal of uncertainty,” she said. “It makes for arduous reading, and it’s challenging to interpret.”
Quellhorst said the issue also causes concern because employees’ health insurance is one of the largest expenses for businesses owners. In addition, business owners have also been alarmed at the rate at which the cost has been rising.
“It’s a high cost, and the continuing escalation of that cost has been a tremendous burden,” she said.
Another concern with the health reform is that the cost of health insurance will still be too high for many small businesses to afford, even with the 35 percent tax credit, said Richard McCarty, a UI lecturer at the Pappajohn Entrepreneurial Center.
Ultimately, Dinsdale said, helping business owners engage in discussions with elected officials will be the most important factor in making health care successful.
“Because the law is being written right now, we may not have all the answers, but at least we’ll know what concerns are,” she said.
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