Washington is making some strides on health care reform this week. A reported stalemate among democrats has lifted, clearing the way for a bill to be released from the House Energy and Commerce Committee as early as this week. However, a floor vote will have to wait till fall since the work of three House committees must be reconciled. Meanwhile, the Senate Finance Committee is reportedly trimming costs from its version of a bill. The president has been campaigning anew, this time to allay fears on the government takeover of the American health system while urging the necessity of change.

Small business remains at the center of the debate with representatives pledging to ease demands on entrepreneurs.

The White House has announced that the Council of Economic Advisers (CEA) has just released a report examining the challenges small business face in the health insurance market, and the likely impacts of health care reform on these businesses and their workers.

According to the White House, the key findings of the report include:

--Small businesses are a crucial part of the economy and a vital source of job growth in the United States. These small businesses account for the majority of jobs in start-ups.
--The current state of the U.S. health care system does not work well for small businesses, imposing high costs on small businesses and their employees through broker fees, fixed administrative costs, and adverse selection, causing small businesses to pay up to 18 percent more per worker than large firms for the same health insurance policy.
--Due to high costs, small businesses are less likely to provide health insurance for their workers than larger businesses, and those that do tend to have less generous plans than large firms. The number of small firms offering health insurance has been declining.
--The report also says that health care reform as in the current draft legislation would reduce the burden on small business. Those businesses that meet certain criteria could purchase health insurance through an "insurance exchange" and choose among plans that would provide better coverage at lower costs than in the current small group market.
--Other advantages the report cites for small businesses include a small business tax credit, exemption from the pay-or-play provisions, and better and lower-cost options for workers in small businesses that do not offer health insurance through the exchange. Better health outcomes would lead to reductions in absenteeism and improvements in worker productivity.

More Industry Headlines