During every major election year, the
presidential candidates pick their
top platforms, and they hammer them home as they campaign across the
country. This year, the economy, international relationships and health care seem
to be the three issues garnering the most
attention.
Presidential hopefuls John McCain and
Barack Obama have had their policy
points outlined and speeches written for
some time now. And while you hear their
messages over and over again, how can
you decipher what they really mean to
you and your business? For an employer,
the future president’s approach to health
care is an extremely important issue.
Thus, all employers should closely
monitor this election, according to Claire
Walker, the vice president of business
operations at the Council of Smaller
Enterprises (COSE).
Smart Business spoke with Walker
about the candidates and their policy
statements related to health insurance in
America.
What are the candidates promoting through
their health care policies?
Sen. John McCain would promote competition and give individuals a larger role,
greater choice and more responsibility in
both prevention and care. His plan
requires transparency in medical outcomes, quality of care, costs and prices.
McCain would also develop national
standards for measuring outcomes and
would reform how Medicare compensates providers to pay only for quality
care. He would also encourage states to
experiment with solutions and would
push for medical malpractice reform.
McCain would give all individuals a
$2,500 tax credit ($5,000 for families) to
increase incentives for insurance coverage and would expand health savings
accounts. He has also supported association health plans and other plans that
allow individuals and families to purchase health insurance across state lines.
Sen. Barack Obama supports universal
coverage through a mix of private and
expanded public insurance. His plan also
includes an employer mandate to offer
insurance, with very small businesses
exempted, but opposes a requirement on
individuals to carry insurance. Employers who don’t offer adequate coverage would be required to pay between 4
and 6 percent payroll tax toward the cost
of government-run programs. The
required coverage would be patterned
off the packages members of Congress
have, and federal rating and issuance
rules would be changed. Obama’s plan
would establish the National Health
Insurance Exchange where individuals
could purchase health insurance from
both private and public plans.
What does all this mean to businesses?
Much of that has to do with your fundamental view of how health care should
be delivered in this country. And, while
concepts like association health plans
and group purchasing can be effective,
the current approach to them as envisioned would be detrimental to many
Americans. In fact, as they have been
presented to date, they would ultimately
create two pools of insurance: one for
the healthy and another for the
unhealthy. This flies in the face of the
real intention of group insurance — to
spread the risk. After all, we will all get
sick at some point.
Additionally, while some may think that
it’s the duty of the employer to provide
health care to their employees, the reality is that the cost of health insurance is
far too expensive for many employers to
offer it, even if they want to do so. Based
on a recent Kaiser Family Foundation
survey, less than half of small employers
with three to nine employees offer health
insurance. In most cases, that’s because
they can’t afford insurance, not because
they don’t want to provide it for their
employees. Insurance should be affordable and thought of as one effective tool
among many for employers to use to
attract talented employees — not an
employer mandate.
What’s the likelihood of either candidate getting their policies passed?
It takes much more than a new president declaring his intended health care
policy to make it happen; the stars must
align. Either candidate must have a
majority of support in Congress, and
either candidate will have to contend
with the full range of interest groups
knocking on their doors. While I believe
that health care will be at the top of
everyone’s priority list come January
2009, it’s hard to say if the next president
and Congress will be able to get something done.
CLAIRE WALKER is the vice president of business operations at the Council of Smaller Enterprises (COSE), one of Ohio’s largest small
business support organizations. Reach her at [email protected] or (216) 592-2417. Composed of more than 17,000 members, COSE
strives to help small businesses grow and maintain their independence. COSE has a long history of fighting for the rights of all small
business owners, whether it’s through group purchasing programs for health care powered by Medical Mutual of Ohio, workers’ compensation or energy, advocating for specific changes in legislation or regulation, or providing a forum and resource for small businesses to connect with and learn from each other.
