Because a Healthy Economy Depends on Healthy Montanans

 

Businesses for a Healthy Montana is a coalition of Montana small business owners who believe small businesses presently are getting shortchanged and deserve to have a stronger voice in the debate over health care reform.

Small businesses are the backbone of our economy and play a key role in our communities. Unfortunately, our health care system is failing Montana businesses. Skyrocketing costs are forcing many owners to forego insurance for employees and even themselves.

Since launching in September of 2008, more than 300 businesses across the state have joined BHM. If you are a small business owner, please add your endorsement to the principles below.
 

Businesses for a Healthy Montana Principles
(crafted with the input of hundreds of independent MT businesses)

As small business owners, we believe this system is fundamentally broken and we must fix it to ensure our future prosperity. We call upon our state and federal governments to enact reforms yielding a health care system that fulfills these principles:

Reliable: No one should lose coverage due to accidents, sickness, changing jobs or starting a new business.

Equitable: Everyone should have good health coverage, regardless of whether we run a small business or a Fortune 500 company.

Proactive: The system must be efficient by encouraging prevention and wellness, not just reacting to illness and accidents.

Predictable: We need affordable, stable and predictable costs to be able to plan our payroll expenses and budgets.

Real Choices: We should be able to choose a high quality public health plan, open even to people insurance corporations deem “high risk,” as an alternative to plans marketed by insurance companies.

Accountable: The health care system should be transparent and accountable to the public. It should be designed to prioritize our health, not maximize insurance industry profits.

If you are a small business owner, please add you voice to nearly 300 Montana businesses calling for systemic reform to make quality affordable health care available to all Montana business owners, employees and residents. Email us at jamee@mainstreetalliance.org us or call 406-241-7716 to add your endorsement.

 

See the real views of  small business owners on health care reform.
Read our 2009 report:

Taking the Pulse of Main Street
Small Businesses, Health Insurance, and Priorities for Reform

Small business owners are considered a key voice in the public dialogue over health care reform. But where do small business owners stand on the issue? "Taking the Pulse of Main Street " provides results from a survey of 1,200 small business owners about their experiences with health insurance and their perspectives on different reform proposals. The results show small business owners want systemic reform, are willing to contribute to achieve it, and want a quality public insurance option.

Graphs available for download:
» Support for different approaches to health care reform
» Willingness to contribute for quality health coverage
» MT small business owners’ priorities in health insurance