Soaring health care costs are forcing small businesses to cut or even drop their plans, as seen in this article from Inc.com.
[A] California survey, which was released March 2 by the San Francisco-based Union Bank of California, found that 52% of the 2,000 small businesses polled said they no longer offer employee health-care plans -- the first time in the annual survey's six-year history that a majority do not.Of the 48% of firms that still do provide coverage, about a quarter said rising costs have forced them to shift a larger burden to workers, while reducing overall benefits.
And as can be expected, health care is quickly becoming a political football. The battle is beginning to build between Republicans who want so-called market-driven plans (which they really are not given all of the regulations that dictate health care plans, much of which backed by these same Republicans following the lead of their special interest supporters) that allow small businesses to band together to buy insurance versus Democrats who either want to force all employers to provide coverage or move toward a state supported health care system (at least they are honest.....).
Both sides seem to think they can fix the health care crisis. That is highly suspect, given the fact that all of their previous attempts to fix health care have created the mess we have now.
