How the Struggles of Washington State Health Care Reform Will Affect Your Business

Like most states, Washington is struggling to cope with skyrocketing insurance costs. The proof of this will be felt next year as Washington is estimated to have over 1 million people with no health care coverage. The pressure will be on for all businesses to provide adequate forms of coverage for their workers. Federal health care reform is intended to ease the burden, but even if it is successful, which many small business owners throughout the country doubt, it will take several years to to take effect.

To make matters more complicated, the state government has taken the position that federal law may never even be enacted because of the possibility of it being deemed unconstitutional. The state therefore has ceased spending additional funds to implement Obama’s health care overhaul since it may not even go into effect.

Governor Gregoire believes small businesses would be adversely affected if the overhaul was overturned because small businesses would not receive the tax credits designed to help with health care employee costs. According to State Senator Kaiser, insurance companies have been calling the shots for years at the expense of small business owners and hard-working Washington residents and this must change.

Small businesses and the self-employed are being swamped by out of control health care costs and all-too-frequent insurance premium increases. Without federal legislative assistance to help control the spiraling costs, it will be difficult for the state to meet the growing demand for insurance as more and more companies will be dropping coverage for their employees.

Based on a state reform package that was recently passed, the governor’s goal is to “limit” health care cost increases to an average of 4% per year as currently it is much higher than this. So essentially your business has to bring in an extra 4% or more of revenue each year just to keep pace with rising costs.

The bottom line is that at the moment health care reform is in a state of turmoil at both the federal and state level, so small businesses must take matters into their own hands and seek a solution that will protect them from rising health care costs and allow them to better serve their employees. For most small businesses, health care costs eat into a fair portion of their operating expenses, so a significant amount in health care savings can give them more breathing space and allow them allocate more funds to areas that help bring in revenue.

The ideal way to cut health care costs is to join a health insurance cooperative with other businesses. A cooperative such as the Business Health Trust can purchase bulk health insurance at steeply discounted rates pass the savings to each of the members involved.

This will allow you as a small business owner to offer more health benefits to your employees at reduced costs. You won’t have to ask them to help shoulder the burden of health insurance which a lot of small companies currently do, and it helps make your company more competitive when hunting for new talent.

If you need health insurance, Washington State companies turn to Business Health Trust.

The Business Health Trust is Washington State’s top health insurance cooperative. In the current tumultuous economic conditions, saving on health care costs is a big deal for your business and your employees. To find out more about our flexible, affordable health insurance packages, visit our site here.