Health Care Reform: A Problem, or The Solution?

By Carol Tice | edited by Dan Bova | Aug 17, 2009

Opinions expressed by 91³ÉÈË contributors are their own.

It’s been a crazy couple weeks on the national healthcare reform issue. have turned up to shout at legislators at town hall meetings. have decried the 8 percent payroll tax businesses that businesses would pay if they fail to offer their employees healthcare coverage under the proposed. Many prominent business associations including the have urged that legislators let the marketplace solve the problem.

But over in another corner is a growing drumbeat of pro-reform sentiment within the small business community. The coalition brings together , the Service Employees International Union (), the and the , with the goal of helping Republicans and Democrats come together to hammer out a middle-ground universal healthcare solution.

Recently, the Center for Economy Policy Research released a showing that America’s small-business and self-employment levels pale when compared with those of other nations — 19 other countries had higher rates than our puny 7.2%. One of the study’s posited reasons for our poor showing: the lack of universal access to healthcare

What do you think — is our healthcare system part of the problem? Or would the cost of universal healthcare be an even bigger problem?

It’s been a crazy couple weeks on the national healthcare reform issue. have turned up to shout at legislators at town hall meetings. have decried the 8 percent payroll tax businesses that businesses would pay if they fail to offer their employees healthcare coverage under the proposed. Many prominent business associations including the have urged that legislators let the marketplace solve the problem.

But over in another corner is a growing drumbeat of pro-reform sentiment within the small business community. The coalition brings together , the Service Employees International Union (), the and the , with the goal of helping Republicans and Democrats come together to hammer out a middle-ground universal healthcare solution.

Recently, the Center for Economy Policy Research released a showing that America’s small-business and self-employment levels pale when compared with those of other nations — 19 other countries had higher rates than our puny 7.2%. One of the study’s posited reasons for our poor showing: the lack of universal access to healthcare

What do you think — is our healthcare system part of the problem? Or would the cost of universal healthcare be an even bigger problem?

Carol Tice • Owner of Make a Living Writing

Longtime Seattle business writer Carol Tice has written for 91³ÉÈË, Forbes, Delta Sky and many... Read more

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