SMC Business Councils Releases Health Care Survey Results
PR Newswire
February 20, 2006
(SMC Business Councils is a non-profit trade association representing 3,500 small business owners in western and central Pennsylvania.)
SMC Business Councils conducted an online survey last week of 150 local small business owners’ current thinking about issues related to skyrocketing health care costs.
According to SMC President Cliff Shannon, “Business owners’ frustrations with seemingly uncontrollable health insurance costs are mounting. Passing along more costs to their employees — or even dropping job-based coverage altogether — is seen by larger and larger numbers of entrepreneurs as a financial and competitive necessity. And although deep misgivings remain about the consequences and costs of a national, single-payer health care system, there is increasing agreement that this outcome may be inevitable.”
Nearly two-thirds of SMC respondents said they thought that a national, single-payer system was undesirable – but nearly one-half of all surveyed agreed that a national, single payer system is (politically) inevitable.
Comments from respondents included:
“American business is at a huge disadvantage due to high health care costs.”
“A universal standardized system that covers everybody would be fair and probably less expensive for each individual.”
“A national health care system is an absolute necessity to keep this country’s businesses competitive with the rest of the world.”
http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/02-20-2006/0004285212&EDATE
Comment: By Don McCanne, M.D.
This small survey supports the findings of other larger surveys on the views of small business owners on health care financing. One additional item surveyed is noteworthy. Although small business owners remain quite uncomfortable with the concept of a national, single payer system, there is increasing agreement that a single payer system is politically inevitable. We may yet end up with single payer by default.