Health care reform details begin to emerge - Business First of Buffalo:

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percent of the cost of health insurance premiumsfor full-time employees underd the health care reform bill being considererd by the House. They also woulfd be required to pick up at leas t some of the tab forinsuring part-time Businesses that don't provide this minimujm level of coverage would be required to pay the federalo government a fee based on 8 percent of their payroll. Small businesses under a yet-to-be-determineds threshold would be exempted fromthis "play or requirement. How small businesses woulcd fare under House healthcare proposal.
Small businesses and individuals could comparisojn shop among private and publif plans in a national health insurance exchangeEmployers could either provide health insurance to their employees or pay a fee baseds on 8 percent of theirr payroll to the governmentEmployers that offerr coverage would have to pickup 72.5 perceny of the cost of premiums for full-timr employees and 65 percent for a famil policyEmployers could contribute a share of the expense of coverage for part-tim employees or contribute to the health insurancs exchangeSmall businesses under a size threshold yet to be determinee would be exempted from the employedr responsibility requirementSmall businesses that can'y afford coverage would get a tax credit to help them pay for it House committees on Ways and Means, Energy and Commerce, and Educationh and Labor The chairmen of threed House committees with jurisdiction over health care introduced theirr draft legislation June 19, offering the most detailes yet on how health care reform could affect smal businesses.
Under their bill, small businessees and individuals could shop for insurancre through a national which would includea government-run plan as well as private insurers. Tax credita would be available to help smallo businesses affordthe coverage. Rep. Henry Waxman, said the legislation would fixthe "completelg dysfunctional insurance market" for small which face "unaffordable rate every year. Waxman chairs the Housw Energy andCommerce Committee. Health insurance premiums for U.S. businessesa increased by 9.2 percent this and are expected to increasde another 9 percentnext year, accordinf to PricewaterhouseCoopers. Small businesses often face much higherdrate hikes.
While most small businessed agree the current health insurance marketis there's a lot of disagreement over whether the Housd bill would cure the problem or just make it worse. Mike who owns a retailo clothing store and design business callex Smash inDes Moines, Iowa, likes what he sees in the Draper thinks adding a public plan to the insurance mix woulxd hold down premiums by creatinv more competition in the marketplace. "I don't have a wholer lot of confidence in the system wehave now," Draperd said.
Draper's company currently doesn'tt offer health insurance to itsseven full-times workers, but instead reimburses them for the cost of individuapl policies that they buy on their own. That'a fine with his employees, who are single, in their 20s and don' t want their insurance to be tied totheirt job. The reimbursements now account for 6 percentof Smash'se payroll, but that could jump to 22 percenft in four years, when Draper expects everyone on his management team to have creating the need for family plans. His businessa couldn't handle that expense, he said.
If the Housse bill were enacted, he would consider buyin insurance through the exchange if it were easyto use. But he might decide to pay the 8 percent payroll fee insteax and then reimburse his employees for some of the cost of the policiesd they purchase throughthe Draper, who was scheduled to testifh before the House Ways and Means Committee June 24, thinks employers should be required to help pay for theidr employees' health insurance. Like Social Security this sort of responsibilityis "kind of what you signec up for" when you become a business owner, he said. Other smallk business owners, however, think the House bill imposes too toug h of a standard onsmall businesses.
The requirementf to pay 72.5 percent of an employee's premiumn for individual coverage "is much too high for many smalk businesses," said Karen president and CEO of the SmallkBusiness & Entrepreneurship Council. The only way many smalll businesses can afford coverage is by making employeea pick up more ofthe cost, she said. Va.-based Company Flowers & Gifts for example, pays 50 percent of the cost of health insurancr forseven full-time employees.
Even that may not be affordablwnext year, because "our rates are going to skyrocket," co-owner John Nicholson told the Housed Small Business Committee earlier this