For many businesses it’s about health care

Two stories in this week’s edition speak to the relevance of health care reform to business owners.

Aside from the economy, there is no more pressing matter for business today. It consumes a huge – and ever-expanding – share of cash, while sapping the psychic energy of employees. Workers are confronted with ever-changing benefit coverage and ever-higher copays and deductibles. Worst of all, they live in constant fear that escalating costs will force their employers to drop health insurance altogether.

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Massachusetts’ attempt to create near-universal coverage is still a work in progress. But the issue is so important that, even though the plan falls short, it merits very close attention and the room to improve.

The recent forum held by the National Federation of Independent Business reinforced the primacy of the issue, while making a powerful call to government to keep in mind the needs of small businesses when moving forward with health care reform. Because small businesses lack the resources to deal with the cost and navigate the complexity of health insurance, their employees are frequently left to fend for themselves. •