Business for Shared Prosperity

80% FEEL THAT COMPANIES SHOULD PROVIDE HEALTH CARE TO EMPLOYEES; MAJORITY FAVOR PAYING INTO STATEWIDE POOL
Survey Shows Substantial Support for Pending Reform Proposals in Sacramento

For Immediate Release August 23, 2007
Contacts: John Arensmeyer - Small Business Majority
(415) 332-4511, jarensmeyer@smallbusinessmajority.org
Marshall Toplansky - Core Strategies
(949) 856-9155, mtoplansky@corestrategies.com

SAUSALITO, CA – Small businesses across California overwhelmingly support comprehensive health care reform, with substantial support for two of the leading reform proposals pending in Sacramento, according to a survey released today by Small Business for Affordable Healthcare, a new coalition of California small business owners.

Key findings from the survey are:

• 80% of those who expressed an opinion felt that employers should pay something to provide healthcare to their employees -- four times as many as those who felt that employers should not have to contribute anything (20%).
• 75% ranked the availability of affordable healthcare as extremely or very important.
• 57% see health care financing as a shared responsibility among individuals, employers and government – three times as many as do not (19%).
• 55% were in favor of paying into a statewide pool that would enable their employees to obtain coverage at favorable rates – over three times greater than those opposed (17%).

66% of the survey respondents were at least reasonably aware of the current healthcare debate in Sacramento. A substantial plurality (near-majority) said that they favored both the legislation (AB 8) proposed by Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez and Senate President pro Tem Don Perata as well as the proposal made by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. A small plurality said that they favored the single-payer plan (SB 840) authored by Senator Sheila Kuehl.
• Governor’s proposal -- 47% in favor; 31% opposed
• AB 8 -- 47% in favor; 33% opposed
• SB 840 -- 42% in favor; 40% opposed

“California’s small business owners, who employ over 50% of the private sector workforce, are fed up with our healthcare crisis; they want bold action now, and they are more than ready to be part of the solution,” said John Arensmeyer, Founder and CEO of Small Business Majority, the California-based non-profit advocacy group that has launched Small Business for Affordable Healthcare. “Other business groups, who focus their energies on opposing all meaningful healthcare reform, do not speak for the millions of California’s entrepreneurs who know that the inability to obtain affordable healthcare for their families and their employees severely impedes California’s economic progress and hampers their pursuit of the American Dream.”

The scientific telephone and on-line poll of 506 randomly-selected small business owners and managers was conducted between August 2-15, 2007, by Core Strategies, an internationally-respected market research firm based in Laguna Hills, California. The Survey has a 95% confidence interval and a 4% margin of error.

“I am struck by how small business leaders are very committed to helping solve the healthcare crisis, and how they really want to do the right thing,” said Marshall Toplansky, Chairman and CEO of Core Strategies. “We do a lot of work analyzing the needs and motivations of small business owners, so we know that entrepreneurs are very proactive by nature. The results of this survey demonstrate that small business owners respond to a crisis in a very pragmatic and thoughtful way, as opposed to the reflexive, ideological manner that is often attributed to them.”

This survey is believed to be the only comprehensive survey of small business healthcare attitudes that has polled a random sample of small businesses across the state. “Unlike most other small business surveys that look only at self-selected membership rolls, we felt that it was important to assess the attitudes of all entrepreneurs, regardless of their political views,” said Arensmeyer. The political affiliations of the survey respondents who chose to state them cut across party lines: Democrat-38%; Republican-30%; Independent-29%; Other-3%

Other responses show widespread support for most of the other pending California healthcare reform proposals:

• 75% favored requiring health insurers to spend at least 85% of their premiums on care -- vs. 8% opposed.
• 70% favored offering health insurance regardless of health status – vs. 9% opposed.
• 67% favored requiring insurers to offer coverage to small businesses regardless of the workforce’s health status – vs. 10% opposed.
• 63% favored a requirement that employers offer Section 125 plans – vs. 11% opposed.
• 62% favored requiring insurers and HMO’s to get state approval prior to raising premiums – vs. 15% opposed.
• 58% favored expanding current public health programs – vs. 15% opposed.
• 56% favored setting a timeline for hospitals and doctors having electronic medical records – vs. 10% opposed.
• 37% favored raising Medi-Cal rates for doctors and hospitals – vs. 22% opposed. [Note: very high neutral/don’t know: 41%]

Other key Survey findings:

• 74% agreed that health insurers and prescription drug companies are making healthcare unaffordable because of their power to dictate prices – vs. 11% who disagreed
• 58% felt that more people would start businesses if they knew they could get affordable health insurance without regard to pre-existing conditions – almost three times those who disagreed (2 1%).
• 46% were in favor of a one percent sales tax to make healthcare more affordable – vs. 35% who were opposed.
• 43% agreed that it is unfair for businesses that provide coverage to compete against those who do not, and that a minimum employer contribution would level the playing field, vs. 25% who disagreed.
• 32% favored mandating that individuals purchase health insurance – vs. 39% opposed.
• 22% believed that health insurance should be the sole responsibility of individuals, not employers or government – vs. 2.5 times as many who disagreed (55%).

The full Survey report, along with other back-up documents, is available at www.smallbusinessforhealthcare.org.
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About Small Business for Affordable Healthcare
Small Business for Affordable Health Care is a coalition of California small business owners and managers from across the state, representing a variety of types and sizes of businesses, who believe that the time for comprehensive health care reform is now. The coalition is a project of Small Business Majority. www.smallbusinessforhealthcare.org

About Small Business Majority
Small Business Majority, based in Sausalito, California, is a national non-profit organization of business entrepreneurs working to ensure prosperity in the 21st Century economy by building a politically aware and active community of small business leaders. Small Business Majority is a program of Business for Shared Prosperity.
www.smallbusinessmajority.org

About Core Strategies
Core Strategies is a market research firm based in Laguna Hills, California. The company, founded in 1996, works with clients across the world in providing insights into business and consumer attitudes. One of its sub-specialties is research and analysis of small business target audiences.
www.corestrategies.com