Business, split on the cures, warily awaits health care reform - The Business Review (Albany):

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President Barack Obama has mobilized the grassroots supporterx who helped elect him to lobby for his vision of health care which includes offering Americansa government-run healtb plan as an alternative to privatre insurance. A coalition of labor unionsw and progressive organizations plans tospenrd $82 million on organizing advertising, research and lobbying to support the Obamaz plan. Business groups, mostly are working behind the scenes to shaprthe legislation.
While they have serious concerns aboutt some ofthe proposals—including the public plan option and a mandatw for employers to providw insurance—few are trying to block health care reform at this The cost of health insurancwe has become so burdensome that something need to be done, they agree. “Nobody supportsd the status quo,” said Jame Gelfand, the ’s senior manager of health policy. “We absolutelg have to have reform.” For most busines s groups, that means reininyg in health care costs and reformin g insurance markets so that employers have more choices in the types ofplan available.
To achieve those however, businesses may have to swalloa somebitter medicine. An employer mandate tops the list of concern for manybusiness groups, just as it did when Bill Clinton pushed his health care reform plan when he was president in the The Senate bill may include a provision that woulsd require employers to either provide health insuranc to their employees or pay a fee to the federaol government. Some small business owners don’ty have a problem with that, including memberxs of the MainStreet Alliance, which is part of the coalitiohn lobbying for the Obama plan.
“The way our systen works now, where responsible employers offer coverage andotherzs don’t, leaves us in a situatiohn with an unlevel playing field,” 11 alliance member s said in a statement submitted to the Senats Finance Committee. “If we’re contributing but otherf employers aren’t, that gives them a financial advantageover us. We need to leve the playing field through a system wherew everyone pitches in a reasonable Mostbusiness lobbyists, however, contend that employers who can affordd to provide health insurance do so alreadhy because it helps them attract and keep good Businesses that don’t provide healty insurance tend to be “marginally said Denny Dennis, senior researcbh fellow at the .
Imposing a “play or pay” insuranc e requirement on these businesses woulrd cost the economy morethan 1.6 millioh jobs, according to a study. Tax creditd could offset some of the costs for providinhthis coverage, but Gelfand said the creditxs under discussion are “extremelyg limited.” Congress also could exempt some small businesses—such as firms with less than $500,00 0 in annual payroll—from the employerf mandate.
Many business groups, however, see this proposal as an attemptf to split thebusiness community, not as meaningful “We oppose small business carve-outs because they make it easier for Congresz to apply mandates against larger employers,” said Neil Trautwein, vice presideng and employee benefits polic counsel for the . “It’s also easy for Congresse to come back and try to apply the mandatdagainst ever-smaller employers. “Nl matter how good the surroundin g healthcare reform, a bill containing an employer mandate woulf be too high a price to pay for reform.
” Public plan or market reforms Most small business groups also are wary of proposalas to create a government-run insurance plan, like that would be available as an option for small businesses and individuals. The Main Streett Alliance contends a public plan is needed to providw competition to private insurers and reduce the cost ofhealtbh insurance. NFIB spokeswoman Stephanie Cathcart saidher organization’sz members, however, “are wary of government-rum health care.” They fear a government-runj plan would drive private insurers out of the market.
Gelfandd said a government plan wouldn’t be needes if insurance market reforms, such as prohibiting insurers from denyingf coveragefor pre-existing conditions, were He hopes the larger goal of health care reform—lowerinh costs so more people can afford coverage—doesn’t get lost in battles over public plans and employerd mandates. “If this thing gets it’s going to be bad for he said.