Small Businesses and Health Care Reform
|  Video
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| Amanda Tetlak |
| 11/24/2009 |
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| Health Care reform is probably going to affect everyone, some believe it will be positive, and others, not so much. The small business community came together in Dickinson and Bismarck today to talk about why health care reform legislation will be detrimental to their livelihood. Hedahls Auto Parts employs about 200 people in four states and the owner says the company`s health insurance is working well for its staff. The company says it`s able to keep costs low by providing incentives for employees to remain healthy, like annual health screenings and flu shots. But that could all go away if sweeping reform legislation is passed. "We won`t be able to do any of it. That`s one of the bug problems with this program in Congress is they`re taking away all of the innovation and opportunity to do creative ideas," says Dick Hedahl, the president of Hedahls Incorporated. "It`s a one-size-fits-all plans that doesn`t fit everyone." Hedahl was one of about a dozen small business owners who attended a panel discussion sponsored by the Campaign for Responsible Health Reform. Some critics say employer coverage mandates will be expensive and will kill jobs. "They`re having a struggle just to keep their doors open," says Chris Deitch, of Associated Builders and Contractors. "Now to heap on another mandate for health care on top of that what`s going to be the result? Raise their prices which is going to drive inflation, reduce employment." "I`m very afraid most small businesses will say we can`t handle it," says Hedahl. "We`re going to drop it all together. that makes the public option that is still being talked about grow rapidly. That makes it very difficult for the hospitals in this state to even exist." But Representative Earl Pomeroy says that`s simply not true. He says 86-percent of small employers are not subject to new rules under the House bill and more than 19,000 North Dakota businesses will qualify for a new tax credit to make it easier for them to offer their employees health care coverage. The panel says a better method for reform is free enterprise, which would allow Americans to shop for the cheapest plan across all borders. |
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