Small Businesses Need to Be Heard in Health Care Debate
My dad was a small business person who owned, bought and sold several small businesses over the years. He loved being his own boss and having the freedom to run his company just like he wanted to.
As a small business owner, he valued treating the folks he worked with compassion and he always provided them with health and retirement benefits. My dad never had a lot of rules or policies but he did expect his employees to work hard and to treat the customers with respect and dignity. When my dad died many of his employees told me heartwarming stories about how he treated them.
In today’s world I wonder if my dad would have been able to provide health care and other benefits to his employees. Small business folks are the back bone of the American economy and they are the economic engine that drives our region. In the current economic environment, small businesses are being stretched to their limit. Owners of small businesses want to do right thing for their employees but the rising cost of health care is making it very difficult for them to provide quality health care coverage at an affordable cost.
That is why small business groups from around the country are actively involved in the health policy debate that is taking place in Washington, DC. They realize our current health care system is broken. Policy makers at the federal and state level need to listen to small business folks because they often times have very different solutions to our current health care situation than do large corporations, insurance and pharmaceutical companies.
As a small business owner, he valued treating the folks he worked with compassion and he always provided them with health and retirement benefits. My dad never had a lot of rules or policies but he did expect his employees to work hard and to treat the customers with respect and dignity. When my dad died many of his employees told me heartwarming stories about how he treated them.
In today’s world I wonder if my dad would have been able to provide health care and other benefits to his employees. Small business folks are the back bone of the American economy and they are the economic engine that drives our region. In the current economic environment, small businesses are being stretched to their limit. Owners of small businesses want to do right thing for their employees but the rising cost of health care is making it very difficult for them to provide quality health care coverage at an affordable cost.
That is why small business groups from around the country are actively involved in the health policy debate that is taking place in Washington, DC. They realize our current health care system is broken. Policy makers at the federal and state level need to listen to small business folks because they often times have very different solutions to our current health care situation than do large corporations, insurance and pharmaceutical companies.
About Me
Steve Roling
President/CEO
Steve Roling is the President/CEO of the Health Care Foundation of Greater Kansas City. Each week he blogs about issues that inspire him as we work toward eliminating barriers to quality health.
Comments
Thanks for another great blog Steve. It sounds like your dad was an excellent business owner. It is truly heartbreaking that if he were doing this today his employee’s might not receive the same benefits they were allowed 50 years ago. Health insurance and retirement plans are the two most important benefits companies can offer employee’s and if these small business can’t afford these then we are pushing people to work at these large corporations were their families can have health benefits and savings plans. Our systems today do not support small business and the American Dream that our beloved President Obama speaks about. If small business are the back bone of America and they are crumbling then what does that mean for our country today, tomorrow, 5 years from now, 10 years from now???? It is a scary thought!
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