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Lincoln, small business owners talk about health insurance Wednesday, Jul 2, 2008 By Jason Wiest Arkansas News Bureau LITTLE ROCK - Sen. Blanche Lincoln met with owners and employees of small businesses and the self-employed Tuesday to discuss legislation that would make health insurance more affordable and accessible for them. Lincoln, along with three other U.S. lawmakers, are working on a comprehensive plan tabbed the Small Business Health Options Program. The legislation would allow small businesses and the self-employed to band together in a statewide or nationwide pool to obtain lower health insurance prices by spreading their risk over a larger number of participants The proposal could come before a Senate panel this fall, Lincoln said. The roundtable discussion followed the same type of meeting in Jonesboro. Of Arkansas' total uninsured population, more than 56 percent are employed by a business with 100 or fewer employees, according to the Nonpartisan Congressional Research Service. Twenty-two percent of Arkansas' small businesses currently offer health insurance coverage, compared to 43 percent nationally, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation, a private nonprofit organization that focuses on major health care issues. "It's not fair for me to hire these individuals and not offer them insurance - they have children," said Mary Parham, owner of J Kelly Referrals & Information Services Inc., a call center and referral resource. But Parham herself does not have insurance, she said. "I be careful when I walk out into the street," Parham said. "I don't want to trip over anything because if I break something, it's going to stay broke." On the other hand, Betty Conner, owner of Betty's Beauty Bazaar and Barber Express, pays for her own insurance, which has a $10,000 deductible, rendering it useless in non-emergency instances, she said. "This legislation will help our small businesses - the economic backbone of our communities - offer health insurance to their employees, which helps with recruitment, retention, employee performance and the overall success of the business," Lincoln said. |
