The New York Times recently reported on the 20 million (out of 47 million) unisured Americans who work for small businesses. Here as excerpt:
As the number of people without health insurance continues to rise, many states and Congress have begun to focus on one of the biggest causes: the growing number of small business owners and their workers who are unable to afford coverage…
Because smaller businesses cannot spread the costs and risks of an individual’s high medical bills over a large work force the way a big company can, they often must settle for less-generous coverage that leaves workers with substantial out-of-pocket medical expenses. Many small employers simply choose not to provide health benefits, which can cost more than $12,000 a year for a family of four.
Of the 47 million uninsured people in this country, at least 20 million are employed by small businesses or work for themselves – a figure that has increased by an average of more than 500,000 a year since 2000. That is why, even as the presidential candidates John McCain and Barack Obama are floating ideas for making insurance easier to obtain by individuals, there are also efforts under way to address the needs of small businesses.
“Half of the uninsured people in our state are working for small business,” said Nancy Wyman, the state comptroller for Connecticut.
Despite broad interest in the issue, though, making significant changes at the state level can be difficult, politically and practically, as Connecticut’s recent experience shows.
Read the whole story here.
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