The New York Times recently featured an article discussing the very timely and controversial topic of health care yesterday. The costs associated with health care have reached an all-time high and are negatively impacting entrepreneurial activity. Below are three of the effects the Times discusses in the article.
Inability to Offer Insurance
For many small to medium business owners, the growing costs of health insurance makes it difficult and sometimes impossible to offer employee benefits. According to the US Small Business Administration’s Small Business Economy 2009, 25% of small business employees do not have health insurance.
Reduction of Health Care Benefits
Another effect of the high costs is a reduction of coverage for those who still offer insurance to their employees. According to the Commonwealth fund, small businesses pay 18% more than large businesses to pay similar insurance coverage.
Loss of the Entrepreneurial Spirit
The increasing cost of healthcare and current mess has undoubtedly brought up questions, fears, and conversations of nationalized health care. For some, nationalized healthcare seems like the solution to a massive problem but in reality, it threatens entrepreneurship more than any cost increase. Nationalized healthcare would be the bridge from our capitalistic economy to a socialized one. Turning private ownership into public goods contradicts the entrepreneurial spirit, which is based on fundamental of private ownership.
Needless to say, the changes in healthcare we will see over the next months and years will directly affect small to medium businesses. What are your thoughts or solutions?