Eighty-seven percent of the businesses in the United States are small businesses with finite resources. Legislation that affects the well-being of small businesses affects most Americans. Seventy-three percent of respondents were businesses located in small towns or rural areas. How these businesses are coping with health care insurance is important to our economy. Many of the 34 to 37 million uninsured are working people employed by small businesses.
Small businesses have incentives to offer their employees health insurance.
Firms surveyed find health insurance to be important in hiring and retaining good employees. A Serious Problem Small business is experiencing problems with the cost of health insurance. Many firms are just beginning to suffer the combined effects of the recession and health care cost increases. A roofing firm reduced its workforce from 18 to 11 employees in the last year due to the economy. This decline placed the firm in a new insurance category.