Healthcare Costs for Nebraska Small Businesses Will More than Double in 10 Years Without Reform

Sausalito, CA, Oct. 20, 2009: New analysis released today by Small Business Majority shows that without healthcare reform, Nebraska small business owners will pay $1.9 billion in healthcare premiums in 2018 a staggering figure that emphasizes why Nebraska small business owners number one priority in healthcare reform is containing costs. Nebraska small business owners spent $811 million on health insurance premiums in 2008. According to projections based on a microsimulation model by MIT economist Jonathan Gruber, that number will more than double in 2018 without comprehensive healthcare reform.  Small business people are in an untenable position when it comes to healthcare. Costs are astronomical and rising every year, yet being uninsured can be just as burdensome financially if illness strikes, said John Arensmeyer, founder and chief executive officer of Small Business Majority a national, nonprofit small business advocacy group. Small businesses are desperate for reform. The cost of doing nothing is just too high. Small Business Majority also polled 200 randomly selected Nebraska small business owners and found that 75 percent of those not currently offering health insurance say they can't afford to. Of those who do, 72 percent are struggling to provide it. Small business owners overwhelmingly support healthcare reform to relieve them from rising and unpredictable health insurance rates. (The full report is available at http://smallbusinessmajority.org/sbmresearch.php#NE). I opened my own business, Cravings Caf, in Lyons a year ago, said Angel Romero Kiester, who suffers from a preexisting condition that has left her uninsurable. But just last month I shut my doors because I couldn't afford healthcare for myself or my workers which meant I couldn't attract any employees to work for me in our small town. Owning a business was my lifelong dream. The dream has faded, thanks to our broken healthcare system. That's hard to stomach. Additional information about Nebraska's insurance premiums:

• Nebraska's small businesses pay higher rates because of insurance market consolidation. According to the American Medical Association, the top two insurers maintain 69% of the market share.
• The average family premium among companies with fewer than 50 employees is $11,566 per year above the US average of $10,956, according to America's Health Insurance Providers (AHIP).
• The variance in premiums among businesses with 10 or fewer employees is so great that one might pay up to four times as much as another, similar firm of the same size, also according to AHIP.