Universal healthcare is the hot topic of the 2008 presidential elections. If you have concern that as an entrepreneur you will be forced to pay for benefits that your business cannot afford, you are not alone.
Governor Swarzenegger introduced a healthcare plan in the middle of 2007 to cover the uninsured in California that funded by the state, tobacco taxes, hospitals and small business. A similar ordinance to provide universal coverage for San Francisco City residents is being challenged by the Golden Gate Restaurant Association, providing an early legal test for this and other similar initiatives. GGRA maintains that programs like “Healthy San Francisco” could hurt employers, employees, the local economy and the
business for sale marketplace.
In a survey of women small business owners on what could help the current health crisis, 80% answered that what the nation’s healthcare system really needed was a total overhaul, not a funding of the status quo.
It is interesting to speculate on what a total overhaul of the healthcare system could encompass:
Would there be a better parity between small business profits and the exorbitant profits raked in by big pharma? Would the healthcare system become truly competitive, as in California Small Business? As a result of this competitiveness, would healthcare costs begin to drop? Would the care become more effective? Would the system run more efficiently? Would there be insurance discounts, rebates and/or vouchers for those who follow healthy lifestyles, as suggested by the California Governor?
It is a heroic and successful entrepreneur who struggles to balance an altruistic desire to provide medical benefits for his staff, while still ensuring the viability of the business.
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