Lincoln SHOPs for small business health insurance relief

U.S. Sen. Blanche Lincoln, D-Ark., has collected support from a broad political spectrum for a small business health insurance bill she unveiled Tuesday (May 5).

Lincoln, along with U.S. Sens. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., and Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, introduced the Small Business Health Options Program (SHOP) with the intent to provide help to small business owners and their employees. There are approximately 295,000 Arkansans who are employed by a business with 100 or fewer employees, according to the info in Lincoln’s statement.

SHOP gained kudos from Sylvester Smith, state director of NFIB/Arkansas, and Andy Stern, president of SEIU — two men who were on opposite sides of the recent “Card Check” battle.
 
“Today thousands of Arkansans are without health insurance, many of them either own or work for small businesses. The Arkansas NFIB and its 4,000 member firms are proud that Senator Lincoln is continuing her effort to bring the reforms that America’s health care system desperately needs. … Our members also appreciate the inclusion of a tax credit for small business owners who pay the majority of their employees premiums,” Smith said in the statement provided by Lincoln’s office.

And from Stern: “The current economic crisis shows just how broken America’s healthcare system is — too many hardworking people are struggling to afford care or being crushed by skyrocketing costs. … As we move toward comprehensive health care reform, this bill has important ideas of ways to help small businesses & help millions of workers, including tens of thousands of SEIU child care workers, afford the health coverage they need.”

The National Association of Realtors also voiced its support for SHOP.

The following are some of the SHOP provisions, according to the statement from Lincoln’s office.
• SHOP will allow small businesses to band together in a statewide or nationwide pool to obtain lower health insurance prices by spreading their risk over a larger number of participants.
• SHOP will provide small business owners with an annual tax credit of up to $1,000 per employee ($2,000 for family coverage) if they pay for 60% of their employees’ premiums.
• SHOP will provide small business owners with a bonus tax credit if they pay for more than 60% of the premiums.
• SHOP would make insurance rating based on health status and claims experience illegal so that premium increases will be more stable and predictable.
SHOP will provide a web site with comparative information about a variety of private health plans.
• SHOP will allow new health plans to be offered nationwide but will continue to rely on state insurance commissioners to ensure that all health plans meet state requirements for financial solvency, network adequacy, and claims and appeal procedures.
• SHOP will allow the self-employed to purchase insurance in the same pool as small businesses.
• SHOP will provide self-employed individuals with a $1,800 annual tax credit ($3,600 for family coverage) to purchase health insurance.