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Small Business & Health Care Reform

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Series of  topics/sources addressing health care cost issues affecting small businesses.  
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Health Care Costs and Small Business

posted Jun 24, 2009 6:24 AM by Lane Trippe   [ updated Jun 24, 2009 5:03 PM ]

June 24, 2009 - As reported by ABC News Business Unit:

A retired health insurance executive testified before Congress today (Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation), confirming the industry practice of "dumping the sick."  Concerning the related practice of hiking rates in response to any significant claims for benefits, he emphasized the devastating effect of that insurance company practice on small businesses:

"Small businesses, in particular, he said, have had trouble maintaining their employee health insurance coverage.

'All it takes is one illness or accident among employees at a small business to prompt an insurance company to hike the next year's premiums so high that the employer has to cut benefits, shop for another carrier, or stop offering coverage altogether," he said.


The Senate also heard from Karen Pollitz, a research professor at the Georgetown University Health Policy Institute, and Nancy Metcalf, a senior program editor at Consumer Reports, concerning misleading and confusing practices in the health insurance industry.  (We are trying to locate a full transcript of today's testimony to post a link or a copy on this website.)

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