According to the 2008 American Express OPEN Spring Monitor, small business owners have made the following changes since the 2007 American Express OPEN Fall Monitor, released in September.
- 34% do not offer healthcare coverage to employees; 29% didn’t offer coverage in September 2007
- 6% have reduced coverage in the last six months; 4% reduced coverage in the six months preceding September 2007
- 6% have eliminated coverage altogether in the last six months; 2% eliminated coverage in the six months preceding September 2007
- 9% have required employees to pay a larger share of healthcare costs over the last six months; 5% required employees to pay a larger share in the six months preceding September 2007
- 20% have been shopping for a new healthcare carrier in the last six months; 15% were shopping for a new carrier in the six months preceding September 2007
The healthcare solutions will not address the underlying problem behind much of this -- the cost of healthcare is a main contributor of inflation. If people had to pay for their own healthcare out of pocket (we all pay for it, but this gets hidden in lower net pay, taxes, and in the cost of goods and services) and if we tracked the cost of healthcare like we pay attention to the cost o gas the outrage would deafening.
While they may address the issue of access, all of the "reform" proposals on the table right now will only increase the total cost of healthcare. Access and cost are both fundamental problems that need to be addressed.
Employees are not the only ones feeling the effects of -- small business owners' health is also suffering.
- 71% of small business owners said being an entrepreneur meant they were so busy that they took their health for granted.
- 90% said there are aspects of their life that suffer as they seek to maintain work/life balance
- 20% indicated maintaining their health/fitness was the area that suffered the most.
This is also alarming to me. Poor health is a major cause of people leaving the world of entrepreneurship.
