Entrepreneurial

– Ryan Hanley is a Commercial Account Executive for the Guilderland Agency, Inc. and a contributor to Under30CEO. The opinions expressed are his own. -

Health insurance is expensive.  There is no way to get around that fact and anyone who tells you different is trying to sell you something you don’t need.  Unfortunately for a young business, the burden of health insurance is even more important than that of a larger or more mature business, (in development, not demeanor).

A Case for Health Insurance

For an entrepreneur skimping on insurance, especially health insurance, is playing Russian Roulette with your future.  At no time in your business’s growth will the health and wellness of employees be more important than the start-up years.  Think about the set-back in growth if the founder of a 2nd year business became ill and had to miss a month.  A terrifying scenario for most young businesses. Now think about that same situation coupled with the stress of the same business founder coming straight out of pocket for all medical expenses.  I’ve seen this situation where money earmarked for business growth is diverted towards medical costs and it’s not pretty.

Don’t buy into the misconception that health insurance is a luxury just because the price tag makes you sweat.  Do not think in terms of price, think in terms of cost.

Don’t Get Too Big For Your Britches

Take the term HMO and throw it out of your vocabulary.  If you can afford an HMO you probably don’t need to be reading this article (though I appreciate that you are).  For bootstrapping businesses concerned about the health of their employees as well as red numbers in their bank account think about High Deductible Plans, or EPO Hybrid Plans which provide less upfront benefit but also have a less stressful price tag.

Providing a Proper Health Plan Takes Work

– A. G. “Terry” Newmyer is a serial entrepreneur and the former founding chairman of The Fair Care Foundation, a patient-advocacy group focused on health insurance. The views expressed are his own. –

In recent remarks to business leaders, President Obama declared himself an “ardent believer in the free market.” So, there is at least one person who is an ardent believer in that sentence.

Just this week, I had lunch with a very prominent, sane, and successful Wall Street executive who was CEO of a big-name firm. He left more than a decade ago, during an era when those folks did so with pride rather than with investigations and grand jury subpoenas.

As lawmakers grapple with the intricacies of a national healthcare overhaul, many small-business owners are facing a healthcare struggle of their own: determining a suitable health insurance plan for their company.

A new survey reveals that many executives at small firms in the U.S. lack the confidence and know-how to pick a health insurance policy that will meet the needs of their employees and their company’s bottom line.

Of the 500 executives surveyed by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC), 64 percent said they don’t feel confident choosing a plan, and 60 percent said they’re unsure of how their taxes would be affected if they shell out to cover a portion of their employees’ health insurance.

-- Nancy Duff Campbell is a founder and co-president of the National Women's Law Center, one of the nation's pre-eminent women's rights organizations. A recognized expert on women's law and public policy issues, for over thirty-five years Ms. Campbell has participated in the development and implementation of key legislative initiatives and litigation protecting women's rights, with a particular emphasis on issues affecting low income women and their families. The views expressed are her own. --

Insurance companies and others who profit from our broken health care system are mobilizing to defeat comprehensive reform by using misinformation and scare tactics. A prime example is the allegation that healthcare legislation – specifically the plan being considered by the House of Representatives – will hurt small businesses.

The fact is that small business owners, especially women, are already hurting under our current healthcare system. Leah Daniels, 29, is the owner of Hill’s Kitchen – a gourmet kitchenware store that opened last May not far from the U.S. Capitol. Daniels can’t afford to offer health insurance to her three employees. She purchased her own bare-bones plan on the individual market for protection “in case I get hit by a car,” but not much else. It costs her just under $200 a month and doesn’t cover such services as routine doctor’s visits or maternity care. Daniels, who often works 7 days a week, says that she is constantly worried about getting sick.