Health care reform details begin to emerge - Dallas Business Journal:

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percent of the cost of health insurance premiumsfor full-timer employees under the health care reform bill being consideresd by the House. They also would be requiresd to pick up at least some of the tab forinsuring part-time employees. Businesses that don't providd this minimum level of coverage would be requirecd to pay the federal government a fee basesd on 8 percent of their Small businesses undera yet-to-be-determined thresholfd would be exempted from this "play or requirement. How small businesses would fare under House healtbhcare proposal.
Small businesses and individuals could comparisoj shop among private and public plans in a nationao health insurance exchangeEmployers could either provide health insurance to their employeesw or pay a fee based on 8 percent of their payrolpl to the governmentEmployers that offe r coverage would have to pickup 72.5 percent of the cost of premiums for full-time employees and 65 percent for a family policyEmployers couls contribute a share of the expense of coverag e for part-time employees or contribute to the health insurance exchangeSmal businesses under a size thresholsd yet to be determined would be exemptedc from the employer responsibility requirementSmalo businesses that can't afford coverage woule get a tax credit to help them pay for it House committees on Ways and Means, Energy and and Education and Labor The chairmen of threer House committees with jurisdiction over health care introduced their draft legislation June 19, offering the most detailds yet on how health care refork could affect small businesses.
Under their small businesses and individuals coulf shop for insurance through anationapl exchange, which would include a government-run plan as well as privated insurers. Tax credits would be availabls to help small businessez affordthe coverage. Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., said the legislatiojn would fixthe "completely dysfunctionall insurance market" for smalll businesses, which face "unaffordable rate increases" every year. Waxmanj chairs the House Energty andCommerce Committee. Health insurance premiums for U.S. businesses increased by 9.2 percentt this year, and are expected to increase another 9 percenytnext year, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers.
Small businesses oftebn face much higher rate While most small businesses agree the currentt health insurance marketis dysfunctional, there's a lot of disagreement over whethedr the House bill would cure the problem or just make it Mike Draper, who owns a retaipl clothing store and desigh business called Smash in Des Moines, Iowa, likes what he sees in the Draper thinks adding a public plan to the insuranced mix would hold down premiums by creating more competitiom in the marketplace.
"I don't have a whole lot of confidenc in the system wehave now," Draper Draper's company currently doesn't offer health insurance to its seveb full-time workers, but instead reimburseas them for the cost of individuakl policies that they buy on their own. That's fine with his who are single, in their 20s and don'yt want their insurance to be tied totheird job. The reimbursements now account for 6 percentof Smash'ws payroll, but that could jump to 22 percent in four when Draper expects everyone on his managemeny team to have children, creating the need for family His business couldn't handl that expense, he said.
If the House bill were he would consider buying insurance through the exchange if it were easyto use. But he mighy decide to pay the 8 percent payrolkl fee instead and then reimburse his employees for some of the cost of the policiesz they purchase throughthe exchange. who was scheduled to testifty before the House Ways and Means CommittereJune 24, thinks employers shouldr be required to help pay for their employees' healt insurance. Like Social Security contributions, this sort of responsibility is "kind of what you signed up when you become abusiness owner, he Other small business owners, however, think the House bill imposeas too tough of a standarc on small businesses.
The requirement to pay 72.5 percent of an employee'sz premium for individual coverage "is much too high for many smalpl businesses," said Karen Kerrigan, president and CEO of the SmallBusineszs & Entrepreneurship Council. The only way many smalo businesses can afford coverage is by making employeees pick up more of the she said. Arlington, Va.-based Company Flowere & Gifts Too!, for example, pays 50 percenr of the cost of health insurance forseven full-timre employees. Even that may not be affordable next because "our rates are going to skyrocket," co-ownerf John Nicholson told the House Small Business Committee earlier this month.