Baucus plans to offset the cost of health reform, in part, by taxing some employer-sponsored health benefits - something that makes the White House and many lawmakers uneasy.  President Obama adamantly opposed this idea during the campaign but has since left the door open.  Baucus' proposal would cap the tax exclusion at $17,240 for a family of four and $6,800 for an individual, which roughly represents the value of the standard insurance plan for federal employees, plus 10%.  Limiting the Finance Committee bill's spending to $1 trillion (that's $1,000 billion) is quite an achievement, given that the Senate HELP Committee's proposal is at least $1 trillion and the House "tri-committee" proposal could cost as much as $3 trillion or more.  The Senate Finance Committee is expected to release a detailed proposal (and perhaps bill language) soon.  In addition, Senator Conrad (D-N.D.) said Obama's proposal to limit tax deductions for wealthy individuals is "on the table" even though lawmakers previously had dismissed the plan.  Will the Republicans go along with all this? 

The Senate HELP Committee continued its week-long markup of their version of health reform legislation.  The panel will reconvene on 7/6 to continue their consideration of the legislation - with the goal of completing it by 7/10.  The bill still lacks language dealing with such issues as creating a public plan to provide an alternative to private insurance, requiring employers to offer coverage or pay a penalty, and providing cheaper versions of costly biotech drugs. 

Of the five House and Senate committees working on health care, Finance is the only one that appears to have a chance at a bipartisan agreement. 

In an effort to prop up the President's plan to provide health care coverage for all, through a massive government run system, MIT economist Jonathan Gruber released a study that argues the President's government run plan will benefit small to midsize businesses http://www.smallbusinessmajority.com/.

He makes some good points that health care reform will likely reduce costs for small businesses, enable them to create more jobs, pay better wages and invest more of their money into the company.  Those are all outcomes that should be part of any health care reform package.

However, there are a few big flaws in Dr. Gruber's plan.

First, his study is focused only on a nationalized health care system - it does not look at the value or benefits of a competitive system where individuals have greater choices and providers are competing for business.

Second, his claim that a government run health care system will reduce cost for small businesses is off the mark.  It may reduce costs for companies already providing healthcare but for those small businesses who can't afford to provide coverage their costs will increase significantly.

And, finally, it is not clear who is going to pay for the massive health care reform package.  With the desire to provide coverage for the uninsured, someone is going to have to pay the bill and it is likely to come out of employers pockets - no matter how big their business.

There is no debate that we need to reform our health care system.  But the reforms being pushed by the President and Congress will move our system closer to that of Canada and Great Britain leading to fewer choices and limited access.  And, it will cost our small businesses more not less.

Who is this going to hurt?  Most small businesses who are struggling to keep their doors open during the current economic downturn.  And, it will have a devastating impact on our non-profit sector, many of who can least afford these new mandates.

There are roughly 1.7 million non-profit organizations in the United States.  Only a handful are as big as the United Way or American Red Cross, most are small community based groups who work hard to ensure that as much of the money they raise goes to advance the cause and not to administrative costs.  Forcing them to comply with the FMLA will only take away from their mission.   

The FMLA was enacted with good intentions: to help employees strike the right balance between their per­sonal lives and careers without being penalized. Unfortunately, it adds to the cost of employment, reduces the ability of employers and employees to make flexible workplace arrange­ments, and makes our non-profits and small businesses less competitive in the marketplace. Expanding the FMLA will have many unintended consequences that will hurt, not help, working families.

Government should avoid imposing costly mandates on our non-profits and small businesses, especially at a time when they can least afford it.

Instead, the Family Policy Center believes we can encourage a family friendly workplace by providing families with more flexible work arrangements by offering private sector employees the option to take time off in lieu of overtime pay, a unique perk that government employees have enjoyed for 30 years.

On another note, access to affordable health care is the number one issue for small business owners.  Congress and the Obama Administration are pushing for health care reform that will move the US health care system closer to that of Canada or the UK.  You can help stop a government takeover of health care from happening.  Send a message to the White House and Congress by signing the "Free Our Health Care Now" petition.  Go to http://www.freeourhealthcarenow.com/ and sign the petition today!     

Currently, federal employees are guaranteed 12 weeks of unpaid leave for the birth or adoption of a child.  HR 626 would allow federal employees to substitute 4 weeks of paid leave and expands coverage to foster children as well.  It is estimated by the Congressional Budget Office that this bill will cost roughly $1 billion over the next five years.  This bill pertains ONLY TO FEDERAL EMPLOYEES.  At a time when all families are struggling to find and keep jobs, should the private sector be asked to pick up the tab for a benefit that many of them do not have?  This bill now heads to the Senate. 

At the NCPA Family Policy Center we believe that families need greater flexibility to care for a new born child or take care of a sick relative.   But mandating leave whether it is in the private sector or public sector is the wrong way to go.  These federal government workers are paid by us-the tax payers! If 4 weeks of paid leave is such a good idea, why don't federal bureaucrats subsidize that right for regular workers?  Instead, taxpayers are subsidizing that new right for federal workers.   What say you?  Please post a comment.

Whether you work in the government, help at a non-profit or own your own small business - we are all looking for ways to balance the demands of work and family. Instead of creating new mandates for one sector of our economy, let's pass laws that work for working families. 

For example, right now only federal government employees have the ability to take additional time off in lieu of overtime pay, a benefit they have had for over three decades.  Doesn't it make more sense to say no to more mandates and give workers in all sectors of our economy, more flexible work arrangements?   Maybe we can convince Representative Maloney to help private sector hourly workers by giving them the choice between comp time in lieu of overtime pay. 

The same bill has been introduced in the United States Senate but no action has yet taken place, President Obama has indicated he supports the legislation.

How do we pay for expanding coverage to over 40 million uninsured people?  The Senate Finance Committee recently released 40 pages of revenue raising options.  They include cuts to providers and new taxes.   

The Finance Committee report says, "Many proposals expected to reduce health spending in the long run may not produce sufficient savings in the short run to finance reform.  Other proposals to generate revenue for health care reform could include taxes that affect lifestyle choices and taxes that generally target loopholes.

Let's look at what congress is thinking:

• Soda pop tax would apply to drinks sweetened with sugar, high-fructose corn syrup or other high-calorie sweeteners. That includes iced tea and noncarbonated drinks such as punch. But diet drinks would escape the tax man. Can you believe this?
• The tax increase on alcoholic drinks would hit beer and wine the hardest. Per ounce of alcohol, hard liquor already faces the highest federal tax rate. The Senate option would raise the current tax rate, and then apply the same rate to all types of alcoholic drinks.
• Health insurance provided by employers isn't taxed RIGHT NOW! Senators are considering several options, including taxing health insurance benefits for individuals making more than $200,000 a year or $400,000 for a couple.
• Potential revenue raisers include doing away with flexible spending accounts, limiting the income tax deduction for out-of-pocket medical costs, and charging upper income seniors more for their Medicare drug plans.

Are you scared yet?  Are you talking to your federal legislators yet?  We better be paying attention.  NOTHING is more important than our families and their health! 

Controlling costs.  This month in a meeting with the President, key health care groups pledged to slow the growth of health care spending by 1.5% a year over the next ten years which is estimated to save about $2 trillion.  This is a good first step because any health care plan must address the rising cost of care.

Making health care portable.  We can't ignore health care portability.  I will say it over and over again and again, we need to give employees the ability to carry their health insurance from job to job.  Current laws say that employers can only purchase group health plans with pre-tax dollars, so that any employer who wanted to purchase a plan that would be owned by the employee, and thus transportable between jobs, would not be able to do so without paying for it with after-tax dollars. Similarly, some states have even passed laws that say employers cannot pay any portion of the premiums on employee-owned health plans without being subjected to group plan regulations.  This has to change.  Portability must be part of any reform proposal.

Providing incentives.  Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) allow individuals to control more of their health spending in ways that suit them best, and the government should consider efforts to make the laws regulating HSAs more flexible. Additionally, health care providers should be given the opportunity to come up with innovative ways for treating patients to produce low-cost, high-quality health care. Small businesses are bracing themselves for the proposed increases in income taxes on top income brackets that will affect their bottom line and make it more difficult to provide health benefits.

Health care will remain one of the biggest issues facing small businesses and all Americans in years to come.  The next few months will be critical in determining whether we have real reform that will increase quality and access while decreasing costs, or turn our system over for the federal government to run.  As this debate continues, everyone needs to have their voice heard so that we can get health care reform that actually works for families and small businesses.

Congress is at it again, using the excuse of the swine flu to mandate paid time off.  This time the pig’s nose is under the tent.  And, this is the way to thank small business during National Small Business Week!?

On Monday congressional Democrats introduced legislation that would mandate employers to give workers seven paid sick days a year.  They argue that the outbreak of the swine flu has made it necessary to require employers to give their employees time off, suggesting that employers and employees aren’t able to make the determination when they should stay home.

Let’s see if we can follow this logic?

Swine flu + Inability for workers to take time off = People coming to work with swine flu = We need mandated paid time off.

But doesn’t this make more sense?

Swine flu + Inability for workers to take time off = Employers realizing it’s not profitable or productive to have employees coming to work with swine flu = Employers will voluntarily offer more flexible schedules.

Unfortunately this debate isn’t going to go away soon.   The bill has 100 co-sponsors and a hearing will be held in the House Education and Labor Committee on June 11^th.  This bill has been introduced before and this time there is going to be a push to include it in the health care reform package that the President wants to sign this year.  

This proposal is the wrong solution – increasing costs and mandates on our small businesses won’t help kick start the economy.  Instead, let’s look for policies that empower the employer and the employee.  Let’s support legislation that allows employees the flexibility to take time off in lieu of overtime pay.  We need policies that work for working families, not mandates that hurt our economy.

For the past decade, our nation's small businesses have produced 60 percent to 80 percent of the new jobs on an annual basis.  After 9/11 in 2001, small businesses produced 100 percent of all net new jobs to help pull us out of the doldrums.  Small business owners even employ about half of all U.S. workers.  Setting aside one week a year to honor successful entrepreneurs is meaningful.  On Wednesday, May 20, the national small business person of the year will be announced!

The public is invited to attend key forums during this week.  These public forums will feature leading experts discussing issues of critical importance to small businesses and to policy makers. Listed below are Town Hall moderators and speakers and if you can't attend in person, visit SBA's online webcasting at http://www.NationalSmallBusinessWeek.com/.

Every time you visit a small business this week, congratulate them on their success and thank them for taking the risk.

WHO:    
                Town hall and forum moderators and speakers include:

                JJ Ramberg, Host of MSNBC's "Your Business" and Town Hall Moderator
                Joseph Jordan, SBA Government Contracting and Business Development
                Sara Lipscomb, SBA General Counsel
                Brian Moran, Moran Media Group
                Raghav Lal, Visa Global Business
                Stacey Wueste, HP's Imaging and Printing Group
                Nancy Gioia, Ford Hybrid Vehicle Programs
                Rieva Lesonsky, CEO of GrowBiz Media
                John Jantsch, Creator of the Duct Tape Marketing for small business

WHAT:   
                TOWN HALL AND KEY BUSINESS FORUMS on critical issues that
                impact small business and the economy to include:

                 Town Hall Meeting: Successful Business Strategies in a Down Economy

                 Financial: Strengthening Small Businesses in a Challenging Economy

                 Innovation: Technology - Our Competitive Edge

                 Social Media: Transforming the Way You Do Business 

WHERE:   
                   National Small Business Week
                   Mandarin Oriental Hotel
                   1330 Maryland Ave., SW
                   Washington, D.C.

WHEN:   
                   May 18-19, 2009

Visit http://www.NationalSmallBusinessWeek.com/ for registration details and schedule

                                                         *Forums have a nominal $5 fee each to attend.

Here is the background:

• Health and Human Services (HHS) would administer a health insurance program for small businesses and self-employed individuals to purchase health insurance through both state and national insurance pools.
• HHS would work with the National Association of Insurance Commissioners to set rating requirement, administrative procedures, and standards of external and internal review.
• It prohibits the use of health status and claims experience for small groups, subject to the same pitfalls of community rating and guaranteed issue requirements that increase costs for everyone and discourage participation from younger, healthier groups and individuals.
• States could opt out and apply their own health benefit plans.
• The SHOP Act provides a tax credit to participating small businesses which distorts the market and increases the likelihood of crowding out private insurance, but does nothing to address the rising costs of health care.

Here are the problems:

• The SHOP Act relies on more regulation instead of less, increasing costs and creating bureaucracy.
• Barriers from purchasing insurance across state lines should be removed, but the SHOP Act creates a new system rather than removing barriers.
• This bill allows HHS to mandate the benefits included in the plans, reducing individual control over health care decisions and unnecessarily increasing costs.
• It doesn't let the market compete by providing cost constraints that ultimately inhibit health providers' ability to innovate, decrease costs and increase quality and access
• Better, simpler legislation, such as allowing small businesses to purchase insurance across states lines, would accomplish the same goals that this bill would fail to achieve.

Tell me what you think of this- I need to hear from you…….

This Mother's Day our policy makers can give all mothers, especially working moms, a lasting gift - policies that make balancing work and family easier.

More and more women are successfully balancing work and family - many because they have to, some because they want to.  In 1955 only 27 percent of mothers in the workforce had kids under the age of 18, today that number is over 70 percent. 

For the first time in our country's history women outnumber men in the US workforce.  And, despite tough economic times, women business owners, remain optimistic about the future and are more inclined to expand their business.

Unfortunately while the demographics of our workforce are changing, our current laws and public policies are not.  Many of our labor policies are too outdated and too stringent for our 21^st Century workforce. 

One of the best gifts we can give mothers is more time.  More time with family, more time to run errands, more time to attend a soccer game or care for a sick parent.   But right now our federal laws make it more difficult for employers to offer working parents the flexibility they need in today's workforce.

Federal laws prevent private sector employers from providing working parents the type of workplace flexibility that could allow families more time to care for an elderly relative or meet the needs of their kids.  Legislation is needed to allow employers to offer their employees the option of taking "comp" time in lieu of overtime pay.  This is a benefit that federal employees have enjoyed for over three decades.  It is time to let all employees have this option.

In addition to flexible schedules, mom's need more flexible benefits.   Working parents, especially women, are forced to make difficult choices when it comes to their careers.  Many parents have to chose between a full-time position with full benefits but a 9-5 (or longer) straight jacket schedule versus taking a more flexible, part-time position but forgoing many of the benefits.   Policy makers should make it easier for employees to trade taxable wages for workplace benefits like health care or retirement.  Policy makers should realize that our tax code makes this difficult.   

Most of the new, small businesses started in the US are run by women.  We need policies that encourage our small businesses to invest in their employees, communities and grow their business.   Policymakers should think twice about expanding the Family and Medical Leave Act (as is being proposed) and reduce the urge to increase taxes on small businesses.  The President's budget would increase taxes on those making $250,000 or more a year.  Many small businesses who report income from sole-proprietorships, partnerships, and S-corporations on individual tax returns would be subjected to this tax increase. 

Finally, we need more portable benefits.  Policy makers should allow people to carry their health insurance from job to job (even while they are unemployed or temporarily out of the workforce) and allow small businesses to cross state lines to purchase a health care plan that works best for their employees.

The best gift our lawmakers can give mothers this Mother's Day is to recognize we need to update our labor laws to reflect the many changes we have seen in the workplace.  Those policy changes should be flexible, personal, voluntary, portable and above all fair.  I hope by Mother's Day 2010 we will make some progress on these important issues and allow Mom the flexibility she needs .