Main Street Thank Area Reps for Health Care Votes
Main Street Alliance business owners joined Representatives Bill Foster and Debbie Halvorson at health care press events in Geneva and Joliet. Members thanked the representatives for standing with small business and voting YES on the house health care legislation.
Representative Halvorson’s event in Joliet was held at West Side Music Center. Thanks to Mark (shown with Representative Halvorson, below) and Jenny Scherf for making themselves available for the occasion. Representative Halvorson did a presentation on how the health care bill will bring down costs and help small businesses to get better coverage.
Representative Foster held his press conference outside of Architectural Resources, a Main Street Alliance business in Geneva. Representative Foster emphasized the security that the legislation would bring to entrepreneurs who too often go without real health coverage. Thanks to Alex Teipel for opening his shop to the crowd.
Main Street Alliance members Alex Teipel (left) and Ed Harrison (at podium) join Representative Bill Foster in Geneva.
 and Ed Harrison (at podium) join Representative Foster after health care vote.jpg)
Now, onto the Senate. Calling Senators Burris and Durbin…..
Dan Sherry Speaks at House Health Care Unveiling!
Main Street Alliance member Dan Sherry spoke at Speaker Pelosi’s press conference to unveil the House health care legislation. Dan then attended a briefing on health care and small business given by the President at the White House. What a day!
Dan’s comments from are printed below. You can also go to the Main Street Alliance Facebook page to see more coverage of Dan’s big day.
ILLINOIS MAIN STREET ALLIANCE MEMBER DAN SHERRY JOINS HOUSE LEADERSHIP AT HEALTH CARE BILL UNVEILING
Sherry underscores the importance of health care reform and the public option for American small business owners
Washington, DC – On Thursday, October 29, 2009 at 10:00 am on the West Front of the U.S. Capitol, Illinois Main Street Alliance member Dan Sherry joins members of the House leadership at a press conference on health care reform.
Sherry, of Waukegan, IL, is the owner of Kennedy’s Creative Awards, a second-generation family-owned business started in 1939. After paying for insurance for years, his insurance company dropped him and his wife for missing a single payment and then refused to reinstate his coverage because of a pre-existing condition. He has been unable to find affordable health insurance coverage for his seven full-time employees.
REMARKS OF DAN SHERRY, ILLINOIS MAIN STREET ALLIANCE
As Prepared for Delivery
“Madame Speaker, thank you for inviting me to participate in this event. As you know, health care reform is absolutely essential for America’s small businesses. I own a family engraving business with two locations just outside of Chicago. I’ve never been able to afford health care for my employees. And even for my family, after paying into the system for many years without any claims, our insurer dropped us for missing a single premium payment. When we asked that our coverage be reinstated, I was told I couldn’t be covered because of a pre-existing condition. After looking at my options for how to protect my family in case I had a medical catastrophe, I concluded that my only alternative was to divorce my wife of 22 years, give her the business and give her the house so they wouldn’t be bankrupted. I was actually doing the research for how to do that a year ago.
“The legislation being introduced today is critical for me and for small business owners all across America to be able to protect our businesses, our employees and our own families from the threat of crippling health care expenses. This bill will eliminate exclusions based on pre-existing conditions and other underwriting practices that make insurance unaffordable and inaccessible for small businesses.
By creating a health insurance exchange that includes the choice of a strong public health insurance option, this bill will provide access to affordable, comprehensive coverage. Most small businesses will be exempt from any requirement to offer coverage, but the fact of the matter is we want to offer coverage – it makes good business sense and it’s just the right thing to do – and the tax incentives in this bill will help us get good coverage we can afford.
“For my business to continue to grow and be competitive, it’s important for me to be able to offer health care benefits to my employees. They’re like family to me, and I have a responsibility to help make sure they have the health care they need. That’s why I’m so proud to have the opportunity to stand here today and express my strong support for this landmark legislation…and my gratitude to you, Madame Speaker, and your colleagues for introducing this bill. America’s small businesses need Congress to pass this legislation to make health care work for us – that’s what we need now.”
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From Today’s Tribune: Coverage at Any Cost?
Thanks to Main Street Alliance members Bob Hausheer and Dan Sherry for speaking with Bruce Japsen of the Tribune.
Coverage under any conditions
Health care reform targeting pre-existing illness denials, but cost, guarantees unresolved
After years of being unable to obtain health coverage because of what the insurance industry deems a pre-existing condition, Dan Sherry finally sees the real possibility of medical benefits in his future.
Sherry’s roadblock has been high cholesterol. Though suffered by millions of Americans, his condition was serious enough that he said an insurer used it to deny him coverage, a common problem for those buying individual policies.
Legislation being debated in Congress is critical to knocking down this hurdle, because key bills would eliminate the ability of health plans to deny coverage to consumers who have pre-existing medical conditions or drop consumers who become ill.
Individuals like Sherry who buy plans on their own tend to be more vulnerable because they are not part of a larger pool of consumers that insurers can use to pay claims and keep costs in check. Individuals also don’t bring buying power in the form of a lucrative number of workers.
"I paid into the insurance industry for over 20 years but now cannot get coverage of my pre-existing condition and have never been able to afford coverage for my employees," said Sherry, who owns Kennedy’s Creative Awards, a Waukegan-based maker of plaques, trophies, pet identifications and other personalized logos.
Sherry, 52, said he was dropped from his health plan in 2003 because he missed a monthly payment and then was denied getting back on the coverage because of high cholesterol. He pays $60 a month for his Lipitor cholesterol drug prescription.
"If I work for IBM, I would not have to worry about a pre-existing condition," he said. "But you hear everybody on both sides agrees that this has been criminal."
The health insurance industry has committed to eliminating denials based on pre-existing conditions, as long as health reform proposals followed the so-called guarantee-issue model that mandates that individuals buy some form of coverage. Without a system that includes a mandate, consumers could defer getting coverage until they need medical care, and that can lead to higher premium costs for those with insurance.
"At the end of the day, one of things we are most likely to see … is a guarantee-issue environment for individuals," Dieter Freer, divisional senior vice president for local and consumer markets for Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois, said of bills gaining momentum in Congress. "If there is not that strong personal responsibility component, you will have people who will just wait for an event before they participate in the insurance pool. If you could buy home insurance after your house burns down … people would do it."
At Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois, the legislation, should it be signed into law, could lead to more business from the individual insurance market, which has been flat to falling this year amid the economic downturn. The state’s largest insurer provides benefits to about 623,000 people with individual policies, or about 9 percent of the 7.2 million health plan members the company has in the state.
Blue Cross and other insurers say it’s too early to know how they will price their products, given there are about five bills being considered by Congress.
The difficulty in predicting prices of plans for individuals is partly because Congress has yet to iron out whether insurance companies will offer benefits through an exchange or whether health plans will have to compete with a government-run plan that lawmakers are calling a public option. Those details are expected to be ironed out in the congressional floor debates and committees reconciling the bill.
Last week, Senate Democrats were leaning in favor of House bills that include a public option but were concerned about losing support of Republican Sen. Olympia Snowe of Maine and some moderate Democrats.
Individual insurance policies tend to be among the most expensive for consumers. The cost of medical benefits is projected to jump next year by 10 percent for workers at large employers, a study released last month by Hewitt Associates, a Lincolnshire benefits-consulting firm that tracks health coverage of large employers.
But the insurance industry sees the costs of individual plans potentially being higher than they would be otherwise without a mandate to buy coverage. Insurers say existing bills don’t have strong enough penalties for those who do not buy coverage.
"These reforms need to be paired with an effective personal coverage requirement to keep coverage as affordable as possible," said Robert Zirkelbach, spokesman for America’s Health Insurance Plans, which represents Aetna Inc., Humana Inc. and UnitedHealth Group among its powerful membership. "Unfortunately, the current proposal provides a powerful incentive for people to wait until they are on their way to the hospital before purchasing insurance. This drives up health care costs for all policyholders."
The uncertainty of the costs worries consumers and may render the pre-existing condition issue not so important if the price remains too high, say some who have purchased individual policies for themselves and their workers.
"If they say that ‘we can’t exclude you for a pre-existing condition,’ that is all well and good, but what is it going to do to the premium?" said Bob Hausheer, 45, owner of Morning Glory Flower Shops in Wilmette and
Humana Gets a Lump of Coal from Main Street Alliance
MEDIA RELEASE
For immediate release: Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Contact: James Meerdink, (608) 217-9202
CHICAGO SMALL BUSINESS OWNERS CALL OUT HUMANA: “STOP BLOCKING HEALTH CARE REFORM”
Illinois Main Street Alliance business owners highlight the need for health care reform, demand health insurer stop opposing the public health insurance option
Chicago, Illinois.—On Tuesday, as the Senate Finance Committee passed its health care reform bill, Illinois small business owners gathered at DKP Image + Media to emphasize that small businesses will continue to suffer if comprehensive reform with a public health insurance option is not enacted. Furthermore, they demanded that the insurance companies end their campaign against the public health insurance option by taking their case directly to the Chicago office of one of the nation’s largest insurers, Humana.
Business Owners Stand Up Against Kirk’s Health Care Bait and Switch
Illinois Main Street Alliance leaders held a press conference outside Representative Mark Kirk’s Waukegan office on Wednesday. They pressed the Representative to get real on health care, making the point that his health care legislation does little to remedy the problems that small business owners in the 10th district face.
Please see the coverage below, and make sure to contact the Representative. Ask him to support HR 3200.
Reaction mixed on Kirk’s town hall meeting
Business owners, families weigh in on health care
August 27, 2009
By FRANK ABDERHOLDEN fabderholden@scn1.com
Proponents of the "America’s Affordable Health Choices Act" held a news conference Wednesday outside U.S. Rep. Mark Kirk’s office in Waukegan in response to his town hall meetings Monday.
"It doesn’t go far enough," said James Meredith, referring to Kirk’s proposals. Meredith is an organizer with Illinois Main Street Alliance, a project of Citizen Action Illinois, which is a coalition of small businesses in the state looking for affordable costs, guaranteed coverage and real choices.
"It moves us in the wrong direction," he said, referring to Kirk’s use of tax credits and Associated Health Plans that allow small companies to group together to buy insurance for their employees. Meredith said the problem is that this doesn’t improve the quality of health care coverage and just subsidizes industry’s profits.
Dan Sherry, owner of Kennedy’s Creative Awards in Waukegan, spoke on behalf of small businesses with David Boris, owner of Hel’s Kitchen in Northbrook, and Jan Wood, who runs JP Wood Martial Arts in Palatine.
"For years I never missed a payment. Then I missed one and they cut my family off," he said. When he tried to find another plan it was difficult because he had a pre-existing condition: high cholesterol.
"It’s extraordinarily difficult to find health insurance," said Kennedy, who was featured in a national advertisement for health care reform. The ad can be seen at mainstreetalliance.org .
Wood said one her sons has a seizure disorder, and with the right medications, he has been seizure free for four years. "But no insurance company will ever cover my son because of his pre-existing condition," she said.
She said her family’s health care insurance costs $1,200 a month and has a $10,000 deductible. "That’s $24,000 out of pocket expense per year before any health care," said Wood.
"Basically we are held hostage by insurance companies," she said. "It’s time for government to establish an option," she said.
Boris complained that Kirk is promoting "fuzzy math" about how many people are actually uninsured. Kirk has said there are 7.5 million who really need health insurance, because of the 44 million uninsured, 14 million are undocumented and 23 million are between age 19 and 30.
Boris said that by using the same source of numbers (the Lewin Group owned by United Healthcare) that Kirk did, they found that 87 million didn’t have health insurance in 2007-2008 and 66 million were without insurance for 6 months or longer.
"It’s time for Mark Kirk to put aside partisan politics that is threatening to derail the most substantial health care reform this country has attempted," he said.
Highland Park Passes Health Care Resolution
Last night, Highland Park City Council passed a resolution supporting comprehensive, national health care reform. The resolution, copied below, PASSED UNANIMOUSLY!
Great work to Main Street business owners in Highland Park for their work on the resolution. Special thanks to David Borris and Miles Zaremski for diligence in seeing the process through.
Another special thanks should go to Highland Park mayor, Michael Belsky. His involvement was crucial in getting the matter before the council. He also is the third Illinois mayor to sign on in support of the Main Street Alliance principles.
Health care costs are a critical issue for municipalities across the country. Every dollar they spend on overpriced health packages is a dollar that can’t be used to provide services or do improvements to local infrastructure. Something to think of when we complain about the potholes in the streets…
Highland Park Resolution PDF - posting soon
PIRG Releases Small Biz Report, Bob Hausheer Speaks
Pictures here soon!
Main Street Alliance member Bob Hausheer, of Morning Glory Flowers, spoke at Illinois PIRG’s small business report release. Bob did a wonderful job, clearly laying out the situation that he faces in the small business insurance market and the ways in which real health care reform could help.
Please see the coverage of the event from the Chicago Examiner reporter Robyn Monaghan.
Survey: small business bruised by rising health costs
Illinois small business owners are being crushed by rising health care costs, and don’t think their voices are being heard in Washington.
That’s the fidning of a new report released by Illinois Public Interest Research Group on Central Street in Evanston today.
“In this economy,” said Illinois PIRG Campaign Coordinator Ryan Rastegar, “health care costs are killing small business owners like Lynn. But instead of leading on this important issue, the national Chamber of Commerce and other inside-the-beltway groups are playing politics with a crucial issue and actively impeding reform efforts.”The new report, The Small Business Dilemma, makes clear that small business owners, like Lynn Bednar, owner of Walsh Natural Health Care, need health care reform.
“While I’d like to provide health care benefits, it’s just too expensive,” said Bednar. “With a pool of only four employees, if even one person has a health issue, the cost becomes prohibitive for all.”
Bednar was one of 343 small business owners and managers around the country to take part in a snapshot survey of small businesses by U.S. PIRG, the federation of state Public Interest Research Groups. The result, The Small Business Dilemma finds, is that the costs and administrative hassles associated with offering insurance weigh particularly heavily on small businesses, According to the 14-page report:
Small businesses value health insurance as a key to business success because it allows them to attract better employees. more than tree quarters of small business owners surveyed who do not offer coverage would like to do so but face high affordability barriers
“At our shop, we’re underinsured,” said Bob Hausheer, owner of Morning Glory Florist in Glenview. “We’d like to be able to offer better health benefits to our employees, but the system we face denies us that ability. Small businesses need better choices.”
Behold, House Releases Health Care Bill
So, now we really have something to talk about. Check out Ezra Klein’s analysis of the House Health Care package, released Tuesday. (links too)
Also, please take a look at the House Ways and Means Committee’s one pager on what employer will be asked to contribute, http://waysandmeans.house.gov/media/pdf/111/sharedresponsibility.pdf
On first glance, it looks good. A few thoughts:
The Process Is the Message: Three separate committees — Energy and Commerce, Ways and Means, and Education and Labor — have come together on one bill. This is an incredible achievement. If you read histories of the 1994 health-care reform fight, all of them have a substantial section on the committee crack-up: One passed a version of single-payer, another a variant of Bill Clinton’s reform, another went further to the right. There was no unity.
There is unity now. And if it holds — if the House of Representatives manages to pass this plan with a substantial majority of enthusiastic Democrats — that significantly strengthens the House’s hand in its eventual negotiations with the more fractious Senate. That’s a big "if." But so too would have been the idea that three separate committees could cooperate on a bill of this size.
The Public Plan: You can download a summary sheet here. The public plan — which is really three, or maybe four, insurance plans — pays Medicare rates to hospitals (and Medicare rates plus five percent to physicians — thanks to Marci Wheeler for the correction) for the first three years and then begins negotiating on its own. It is open to anyone with access to the Health Insurance Exchange.
The Benefit Packages: This is why I say there could be three, even four, public plans. Within the Health Insurance Exchange, the basic plan that everyone needs to offer is, well, the "basic plan." On first glance, it’s pretty comprehensive: It has to be equal in value to the prevailing employer-based insurance in the area. Cost-sharing cannot exceed $5,000 for individuals or $10,000 for families in the first year (it can then grow by the rate of inflation each year after that). It is heavily regulated. And then there is an "enhanced" plan above it, with less cost-sharing, and then a "premium" plan above that, with even less cost sharing, and then a "premium-plus" plan above that. Of these, only the "premium-plus" plan can vary in benefits, as opposed to vary in cost-sharing. The public plan can offer all levels of plan.
The Health Insurance Exchange: It’s run nationally, though states can opt out of the national structure and go it alone if they choose, and if they follow federal rules. In the first year, it accepts those without health insurance, those who are buying health insurance on their own, and small businesses with fewer than 10 people. In the second year, it accepts small businesses with fewer than 20 people. After that, "larger employers as permitted by the Commissioner." In other words, expansion is discretionary, not mandated. The only people able to access the public plan in the early years will be on the exchange, and the exchange will be, relative to the population, pretty limited. So the public plan will be limited, and so too will any anticipated savings.
Affordability and Subsidies: The House bill has subsidies up to 400 percent of poverty, which is equal to $43,320 for an individual and $88,200 for a family of four. At the bottom end — 133 percent if income, as below that, you’re eligible for Medicaid — the subsidies limit your health premiums to 1.5 percent of income. At the top end — 400 percent — it’s no more than 11 percent of income. Speaking of the out-of-pocket cap, all of the benefit packages — from the "basic" plan on upward — cap total costs for members. So if you’re not eligible for subsidies, you’re still going to be protected from catastrophic health-care costs.
CBO Score: The Congressional Budget Office has released its estimates for the coverage side of this bill. They project that within 10 years, it will cost $1 trillion and cover 97 percent of the legal population.
Revenue: If I’m reading this correctly, about half is paid for through $500 billion or so in savings from Medicare and Medicaid. The rest comes from a surtax on the richest 1.5 percent. The surtax is 1 percent on income between $350,000 and $500,000; 1.5 percent on income between $500,000 and $1,000,000; and 5.4 percent in income above $1,000,000. The surtax can vary if the bill is less or more expensive than initially anticipated. There are also revenue expectations from the employer and individual mandates, though they’re relatively modest ($200 billion over 10 years is one estimate I’ve heard).
You can download the full bill here. There are a whole lot of fact sheets and summary documents here, though I’m not finding them very helpful. I’d like to see if we could crowdsource this a bit: Dig through the legislation and tell me, either in comments or over e-mail, of anything particularly interesting that you’ll find. I’ll pull important nuggets and discoveries onto the front page.
Photo credit: Susan Walsh — Associated Press Photo .
By Ezra Klein | July 14, 2009; 4:22 PM ET
IMSA Leader Interviewed on Mike Smith Show
David Borris, a caterer from Northbrook, was interviewed by radio host Mike Smith. He talks about the DC trip and small business priorities in health care reform. Follow the link below to listen to the broadcast. Under the description for the June 27th, you should see a MP3 player. David’s interview starts at minute 40.
Health Care Event in Edwardsville
Coverage of a health care event in the Edwardsville Intelligencer (Illinois) was brought to our attention by Dr. Pam Gronemeyer, an active Illinois Main Street Alliance member. Pam will be taking the small business case for health care reform to DC at the end of the month. She is also speaking at the National Organization of Women’s conference in Indianapolis.
Thanks Pam, and way to go!
Making a push for health care
Information presented at Goshen Market
By NORMA MENDOZA
njmendoza@aol.com
Published: Tuesday, June 9, 2009 10:56 AM CDT
Allied supporters of the call for health care reform staffed a table at the Goshen Market Saturday morning, providing informational materials about the need to fix the health care system in America.
Some of the most vocal support comes from members of the United Steel Workers who have been laid off from the Granite City Steel Works of U.S. Steel, some as long as six months.
Mike Fultz is a union member who was laid off by Stein Steel Mill Services, Inc., a company that works under contract at Granite City Steel. Fultz said all but two of the 60 workers who were working at the mill have been laid off. Read the rest of this entry »