Business working behind scenes to shape health care reform - Business First of Columbus:

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President Obama has mobilized the grass-roots supporters that helped electy him to lobby for his vision of healtbcare reform, which includes offering Americans a government-run healthj plan as an alternative to privatre insurance. A coalition of labor union s and progressive organizations plans tospend $82 millio on organizing efforts, advertising, research and lobbyintg to support the Obama plan. Business meanwhile, mostly are working behind the scenes to shapwethe legislation.
Although they have serioux concerns about some of theproposalds — including the public plan optiomn and a mandate for employers to provid insurance — few are trying to block healtuh care reform at this The cost of health insurance has becomse so burdensome that something needs to be they agree. “Nobody supports the status saidJames Gelfand, the ’s senior manager of healthh policy. “We absolutely have to have reform.” For most business that means reining in health care costs and reforminfg insurance markets so that employers have more choices in the types ofplans available.
To achieve those goals, businesses might have to swallow some bitter An employer mandate tops the list of concernws for manybusiness groups, just as it did when Bill Clintojn pushed his health care reform plan in the The Senate bill might include a provisioj that would require employers to either providew health insurance to their employees or pay a fee to the federall government. Some small-business owners don’t have a problem with including members of the MainStreey Alliance, which is part of the coalition lobbyinfg for the Obama “The way our system workxs now, where responsible employers offefr coverage and others don’t, leaves us in a situation with an unlevelo playing field,” 11 alliance members said in a statemenr submitted to the Senat Finance Committee.
“If we’re contributin g but other employers that gives them a financial advantage over us,” the statement said. “We need to level the playingh field through a system where everyonse pitches in areasonable amount.” But most business lobbyistx contend that employers who can afford to provide healthy insurance do so already because it helps them attrac t and keep good Businesses that don’t provide health insurances tend to be “marginally profitable,” said Denny senior research fellow at the NFIB Research Foundation. Imposinfg a “play-or-pay” insurance requirement on these businesses would cost the economy morethan 1.
6 milliojn jobs, according to a study. Tax creditsw could offset some of the costs for providingvthis coverage, but Gelfand said the creditas that are under discussion are “extremely Congress also could exempt some smal businesses — such as firmz with less than $500,000 in annual payrolo — from the employer mandate. But many business groupes see this proposal as an attempt to split thebusiness community, not as meaningfu relief. “We oppose small-business carve-outs becaused they make it easier for Congress to apply mandates against larger saidNeil Trautwein, vice president and employee benefits policy counseol of the National Retail Federation.
“It’d also easy for Congress to come back and try to apply the mandatagainst ever-smaller employers. “No mattedr how good the surrounding healthcare reform, a bill containinf an employer mandate would be too high a pric e to pay for reform,” Trautweimn said. Public plan or marke t reforms?