NFIB OFFICIAL EXPRESSES VIEWS ON HEALTH-CARE ISSUE

The state of Florida has a health program to be looked at, says Brad Jones, director of the Missouri Chapter of National Federation of Independent Business.

"It offers a cost-savings, free-market and free-enterprise approach," said Jones, who was in Cape Girardeau Monday to discuss NFIB and health care. "The Florida plan is still in the early stages, but a lot of states are looking at the plan that was finalized about six months ago."

Meanwhile, the NFIB, a small-business advocacy organization, has some questions about the Clinton administration's health-care proposal that was revealed last month, especially its mandated employer-paid coverage portion.

NFIB was a major player in the Florida health-care compromise, said Jones, who joined NFIB as the first full-time director of the Missouri chapter in February.

"One of the highlights of the Florida plans is the Health Insurance Purchasing Cooperatives, commonly known as HIPCs," said Jones. "NFIB Missouri members have endorsed this concept."

Many states have not been waiting for the Washington version of health-care reform.

"Missouri is no different," said Jones. "During the summer three committees looked into a state program; one of the things which has to be implemented is a free-market approach."

The NFIB has been closely monitoring the Missouri committee dealing with cost-control issues. NFIB members have made it clear that health insurance costs need to be brought under control. "One of the ways to do this is with HIPCs."

The only problem with state programs is how they will fit into the national Clinton program.

The Missouri chapter of the NFIB has about 12,000 member companies that employ about 180,000 people. "We have 241 members companies in Cape Girardeau County and 89 members in Scott County," said Jones.

NFIB-Missouri represents a wide spectrum of independent businesses, from one-person, "cottage" operations to companies that employ more than 100.

"The typical Missouri NFIB member employs about eight workers and rings up gross sales of about $280,000," said Jones. "A lot of these small businesses will be hurt by President Clinton's proposed health plan."

Jones said NFIB "really favors a lot of the president's health plan," but there some areas it vigorously opposes.

"NFIB has worked actively for a number of years for health-care reform, both at the state and federal level, so we welcome its prominence on the political agency," said Jones."

One of the frightening things about the proposed national program concerns the portion that calls for a mandate on employers to pay 80 percent of the cost of all their full and part-time employees, he said. "This will result in increased payroll costs, which could force some business to close," said Jones.

"Small companies would have four options here," said Jones. "Owners may have to cut back on salaries and raises, layoff somebody, cut down on inventory, or go out of business."

The president's plan includes many reforms that small business welcomes, said Jones. These include managed competition, the ability to join health-insurance purchasing groups, and paperwork reduction.

"The purchasing group plan will allow small companies to pool together to give them marketing powers to purchase insurance plans at better rates," said Jones. "The reduction on paper work should go a long way in cutting down on costs."

Actually, the president's plan is good for small business in many areas until you get to the financing of it, said Jones. "But mandating that employers pay up to 80 percent of all the employees' health insurance will put many jobs at risk."

Currently, many small-business insurance programs are on a 50-50 or 60-40 basis with employees.

When the president's plan was revealed last month, NFIB heavily opposed the administration's plan to force business owners to pay a pro-rated share of premiums, especially for part-time employees.

Results of a Gallup poll of small business indicated that 85 percent of small-business owners oppose the mandated plan of employers to pay up to 80 percent of the cost of health-insurance premiums for full-time workers.

"The survey showed that even with sugar-coated promises of a government subsidy, small businesses are still against the employer mandate," said Jones.

The Gallup survey supported NFIB's contention that small-business payrolls have little leeway to accommodate higher costs associated with employee benefits.

The survey showed that nearly half of the businesses (48 percent) would be forced to raise prices, almost a third (31 percent) would have to let workers go or leave some potential jobs unfilled, and that 28 percent would have to freeze or cut pay.

The survey polled 870 small-business owners throughout the country.

"The vast majority of those polled (78 percent) said the single biggest problem with America's health system is the cost," said Jones.

The national NFIB consists of more than 600,000 members.