Golden Retriever Puppy: Breed a Rescue Dog

Small Business Health Insurance: Escaping The Catch-22

As the economy continues to tank so do the number of Americans without health insurance?and the number small business owners who can afford to insure their employees.

A recent survey by the NFIB Research Foundation, a small business advocacy group, showed that only 47 percent of small business owners offer employee health benefits. Those employing 20 or more people are more than twice as likely to offer employee health benefits as those with fewer than 10.

The survey found that the low numbers are primarily the result of new small businesses opting not to cover employees. Most small businesses who offer benefits have offered them for a while and are reluctant to drop them for fear of losing good employees.

?It?s much better for employee morale if a small-business owner never offers health benefits, than it is to offer them and then be forced to take it away because it is too expensive to continue,? said William J. Dennis, NFIB?s senior research fellow. ?Small-business owners experience considerable turmoil in their early years. They often experience cash flow problems and are reluctant to incur additional expenses such as health insurance. What?s new to this picture is that it appears that new small-business owners are waiting longer or choosing not to offer health insurance benefits to their employees at all.?

The fact that new small businesses are choosing not to offer benefits is a disturbing trend because of the swift turnover of the small business population. If the trend continues, the number of employers who never offer benefits will increase. And that will hurt small businesses because it will limit thet talent pool from which they draw.

What Can Be Done?

Small businesses aren?t alone in struggling with the cost of health care (and premiums) in the current economic climate. The U.S. Census Bureau reports 47 million people, or 15.8 percent of the U.S. population, were without health insurance during 2006

Unfortunately for the small business owner, new legislative approaches to help the uninsured may actually hurt them. One popular option is the "pay-or-play" mandate, in which employers are required to either provide health insurance for their employees or pay a penalty to offset costs the government incurs to provide health care for the uninsured. The rules likely would only apply to full-time employees.

Proponents say such mandates could significantly reduce the ranks of the uninsured, since the vast majority of the uninsured are in families with at least one full-time worker. Many of these are low-income families, suggesting that such measures could benefit the working poor.

Opponents argue that many low-wage workers will just be paid less, reduced to part-time or laid off to offset the insurance costs.

In their paper, "Employer Health Insurance Mandates and the Risk of Unemployment," researchers Katherine Baicker and Helen Levy found several factors affect the extent to which such mandates cost more jobs:

? Cost of the insurance.
? How much of the cost of coverage will be passed on to workers via lower wages.
? How many uninsured workers have earnings so close to the minimum wage that their wages cannot be reduced enough to offset the cost of the new coverage.

The authors found that the mandate would still leave 54 percent of American workers without coverage.

?The vast majority of those who benefit from pay or play mandate live in families with incomes twice the poverty line or more and, depending on how coverage is determined, the mandate will leave a significant share of the working poor ineligible for such benefits either because their hourly wage rate is too high or they work for smaller exempt firms,? the authors wrote.

Most experts agree that such mandates are bad for small businesses. Employers are faced with hard choices. In the NFIB poll, only 20 percent of small employers said they would simply provide the insurance as required. Many more said they would either cut jobs or move more employees to part-time status.

Moving people to part-time work is a particularly attractive option to small business owners. In fact, how part-time employees are treated is a key influencing factor on whether small businesses support pay or play legislation.

According to NFIB, ?The treatment of these employees will alter relative costs in one direction or the other, providing small employers? strong relative incentive to change.?

Small business experts agree that if part-time employees are covered by a mandate, most employers will respond by simply eliminating jobs, adding to the jobless rate and doing nothing for the rate of uninsured.

Small business owners have always faced an uncertain future but the current economy and the health care crisis make this an extremely tough time to take the startup step.

Melissa Mashtonio writes for Manta.com, the authority for finding 45 million free small to large company profiles worldwide?and their related industries and products. Manta's Small Business Center features thousands of how-to-guides for small business owners.

MORE ARTICLES:

Gift of the Month Club Sales Surge at Clubs of America
Holiday sales hit another record high. Gift of the Month Clubs provide the perfect year round season’s greetings.

Westie Puppies For Sale – 7 Important Questions To Ask Your West Highland Terrier Breeder
Let's say you've made up your mind on the breed you want, which is a cute westie puppies for sale. The next step to take is finding a responsible breeder.

Dog Lovers Wine Club Features "Annie" a Rescued Boxer from the San Francisco Bay Area
Dog Lovers Wine Club has just completed shipping of their May club shipment. The shipment contains a Santa Barbara County Tempranillo graced with a painting of Annie the Boxer.

Why Finding Good Golden Retriever Breeders Can Be So Difficult
If you are looking to buy a new dog and are interested in the Golden Retriever breed, then know that you are first going to have to become a bit more educated on the issue of Golden Retriever breeders There are literally thousands of different breeders out there, some which work in the professional industry and others who are just average people

Puppy Pictures And Puppy Albums
Most people who have pets at home actually get so much attached to them that they are considered more of a family member than just a mere pet. For once, most dog owners actually treat their dogs very well from the time that it is still a puppy until they grow with them. For others, they go beyond the basic care of their pets and they even take pictures of their pets and compile them in an album so they could do something to preserve the memories of their pets and share their joys even to the next generation.

Horse Breeds: Galician Pony, Gelderlander, Gidran, Golden American Saddlebred, Gotland
*GALICIAN PONY* Found in northwest Spain, The Galician Pony is home in a region that features many mountains and a wet climate The breed is used for the production of meat and for riding

When Breeders Look For Puppies This Is What They Look For
Getting a new puppy is so much fun, and Rottweiler puppies are so adorable, you'll be tempted to choose the first puppy you pick up at your breeder's Resist that impulse, and take a measured approach to selecting your Rottweiler puppy

Puppy Pictures Are Great Gifts For Puppy Lovers
Puppy films are not only great for home decorations or for photo albums. They can be great gifts thoughts for puppy lovers too! If you know a buddy who's about to have a birthday or a qualified or work mate who indeed loves her little pooch that much, then bountiful puppy cinema - in a creative way - would be one of the best presents you could ever give.

Health Club Secrets -- 5 Monster Tips For Choosing A Health Club
With the New Year coming in, people by the droves put their New Year's resolutions in gear. For many health clubs, the month of January marks the easiest time of the year to entice and underdeliver the hopes and desires of the unsuspecting public.

Bil-Jac Introduces Treat for Puppy Training and Small Breeds: Smaller Size of Little-Jacs Dog Treats is Perfect for Puppy Training and Smaller Bree
Bil-Jac Foods Inc., manufacturer of premium pet food and pet treats, introduces Little-Jacs Liver Treats, a treat that is the ideal size for smaller dog breeds and puppy training. It's the company's first product specifically for small dogs. Consistent with Bil-Jac's nutritional philosophy of only using fresh protein sources, the dog treats are gluten meal-free and contain a combination of fresh chicken liver and chicken.

What To Ask Your Prospective Golden Retriever Breeder
Money shouldn't mean much to a good Golden Retriever breeder needing to find good homes for puppies Ask for references and what they like to see in a dog owner

Puppy Pictures - How to Create A Photo Album For Your
Photo albums are one great ways to recover all the memories between you and your puppies. Of course, you would want a book that's meaning trust. Through creative designs and patience on the throw, you can come up with the nicest photo book that would house all your memories with your puppies.

Breed Success in Your Puppy Search
The numbers will make any pet lover blanch with disgust, anger, and sadness. The Humane Society of the United States calculates that as many as 500,000 puppies every year are sold in pet shops, and that many of these pet shops buy their pets from the worst breeders—so-called puppy mills.

Connect With The Right Puppy Buyer Or Breeder Of Your Choice
Are you a puppy buyer or a breeder; or just a once-through-buyer looking for a good breed for your home? What ever, be the puppy or kitten requirement that you have, you have come to the right site pawsitesonline.com .