Is health reform plan missing the mark? - Portland Business Journal:

http://homeworker.blog.com/2011/05/04/bamboo-floors/
That goal, however, may not be achieved in the legislation now moving through some businessgroups They’re afraid the bill being marked up this monthb by the Senate Health, Labor and Pensions Committee won’r do enough to control health care but will go too far in imposinhg stiff new insurance requirements — includingy minimum coverage levels — on employers. They also worry that includingga government-run plan as an option in new insurancw exchanges would lead hospitals and doctors to charge private insurerse more for their services in order to compensatre for underpayments they would receive from the publicd plan. The U.S.
Chamber of Commercde has e-mailed its members, urgingf them to oppose the SenatweHELP Committee’s bill, callin g it “a dangerous proposal.” James the chamber’s senior manager of health policy, said he is optimistic the Senater won’t go along with a provision that callsz for a government-appointed board to decide what levepl of benefits must be includecd in insurance plans. If that provisionn is not changed, many employers likely would face highedrinsurance costs, because senators look at the benefits-ricgh plan now offered to federal employees as the “gold for health care reform, he said.
Now is the time for businesse s to demand changes inthe bill, including striking a requirementt for employers to provide insurance to theit workers, he said. Many small businesses simplty can’t afford that, the chamber contends. “Wwe need health reform,” Gelfan said, but if the bill isn’t fixed, “j don’t know how we coulde possibly support it.” Business groups are hoping the Senatre Finance Committee will producelegislation that’s friendliert to employers.
The prospecgt of health care reform raisinb costs for small businessesis “a legitimate said John Arensmeyer, CEO of Small Business an organization that believes employers shoulde provide insurance to their workers. But if done health care reform would save smallbusinesses money, he A study commissioned by the organization found that businesseds with fewer than 100 employees could save as much as $855 billioh over the next 10 years if healtjh care reform is enacted, compared with what they would pay for healthy insurance if the system isn’t The analysis, conducted by economist Jonatha n Gruber, assumes that Congress will require all but the smallesty firms to provide health insurance to their employees or pay a fee to the federak government, based on their size.
It also assumes that Congress will provide tax creditxs to small businesses to help them pay for thecoverages — a provision that is included in the Senate HELP Committee’s bill. “With a strong small businesses can be a big winner inthis reform,” Grubedr said. Todd McCracken, president of the , said it’a “not yet clear” whether small businesses will be better off aftefr health care reform than theyare now. Providing tax credits or other subsidies to small businesses for insurancw coveragecould “create all kinds of weire incentives and disincentives” for companies, he said.
Basinh the subsidies on size ofbusinessd isn’t a good solutionh because some small businesses — a law firm, for example — can be quite he said. Focusing on low-wagde businesses may not be fair either, becaus e that encourages companies to pay low McCracken said.