Please see below for a fact check on remarks made just now by Senator Bond on the Senate floor, erroneously claiming that health reform would be less affordable for small businesses when quite the opposite is true:
RHETORIC: Sen. Bond Claimed That Reform Bill Would “Do Nothing To Address Real Health Care Needs,” Would Make “Health Care Less Affordable For” Small Businesses. “However, when we look closely, the bills we see before this do nothing to address real health care needs, and in fact by imposing more taxes and taxes said will be passed from health care companies down to those who are paying the private bills, not only will it make the health care less affordable for these small businesses, it will force many of them to drop whatever coverage they have now.” [Senate Floor, 12/10/09]   REALITY: SEN. BOND COULD NOT BE MORE WRONG: SMALL BUSINESSES GAIN FROM REFORM

Founder And CEO Of Small Business: “The Notion That Health Care Reform Is Bad For Small Businesses Is Little More Than A Purposefully Misleading Bag Of Rhetoric That Has Nothing To Do With The Real Issues Facing Small Businesses.” Jonathan Weber, the “founder, publisher, and CEO of New West,” a media company, wrote about his perspective about the need for health insurance reform for small businesses: “The National Federation of Independent Businesses says small businesses should oppose the legislation because it ‘fails to lower’ health care costs, ignoring the fact that there are a lot of issues here besides cost (see above)… the notion that health care reform is bad for small businesses is little more than a purposefully misleading bag of rhetoric that has nothing to do with the real issues facing small businesses. I desperately hope that most business owners see through it and communicate with their elected representatives accordingly.” [The Big Money, 7/27/09]

CBO On Senate Bill: Certain Employers Would Be Allowed To Give Employees Access To Exchanges, Covering An Additional 5 Million People. In its estimate of the Senate reform bill, CBO wrote: “Under the legislation, certain employers could allow all of their workers to choose among the plans available in the exchanges, but those enrollees would not be eligible to receive subsidies via the exchanges…CBO and JCT expect that approximately 5 million people would obtain coverage that way in 2019, brining the total number of people enrolled in exchange plans to about 30 million in that year.” [Congressional Budget Office, 11/18/09]

CBO On Senate Bill Included $27 Billion Small Business Tax Credit For Providing Coverage. In its estimate of the Senate reform bill, CBO wrote: “The other main element of the coverage provisions that would increase federal deficits is the tax credit for small employers who offer health insurance, which is estimated to reduce revenues by $27 billion over 10 years.” [Congressional Budget Office, 11/18/09]

Business Roundtable: Without Reform, Health Care Costs Rise To $28,530 Per Employee, 166% Higher; With Reform, Businesses Could Save $3,000 Per Employeee. A report from the Business Roundtable concluded that: “If the cost trends of the past 10 years repeat, by 2019, employment-based spending on health care at large employers will be 166% higher than today on a per-employee basis. This equates to an average of $28,530 per employee when employer subsidies, employee contributions, and employee out-of-pocket costs are combined. We estimate that if enacted properly, the right legislative reforms could potentially reduce that trend line by more than $3,000 per employee, to $25,435.” [Business Roundtable – Health Care Reform, 11/12/09]

Republicans Angry With Business Leaders For Not Accepting That Republican Leadership Knows More About How Health Reform Will Affect Companies. The Hill reported that, “[t]ension between Republicans and the nation’s top CEOs over healthcare reform escalated this week when the executives released a report praising aspects of President Barack Obama’s top initiative. Republicans in Congress and some of their business allies in Washington are fuming over a new report commissioned by the Business Roundtable (BRT), an organization that represents more than 50 of the nation’s biggest corporations. The report claims that parts of the Democratic legislation could cut healthcare costs substantially…A senior Senate GOP aide on Thursday said: ‘The bottom line is that these policies the administration is advocating is not going to be helpful to businesses. Is it disappointing that groups are cutting deals with the administration instead of looking at the realities of how the policies will affect their members? Absolutely.’…A former Senate GOP leadership aide said Republican leaders are ‘very angry’ with the Roundtable for working with the administration. ‘The relationship has been good until recently because they haven’t stepped up to the plate to help Republicans with the principles they both agree on,’ said the former aide. ‘The BRT is playing politics more liberally than our side thought they would have.’” [The Hill, 11/13/09]

Study: No Health Insurance Reform Means Small Businesses Will Pay Nearly $2.4 Trillion In Healthcare Costs, Cost 178,000 Jobs. The Small Business Majority study commissioned a study from noted economist from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Jonathan Gruber. The study found that, “without reform, small businesses will pay nearly $2.4 trillion dollars over the next ten years in healthcare costs for their workers. With reform, the study shows that small businesses can save as much as $855 billion, a reduction of 36 percent, money that can be reinvested to grow the economy.” The study also found that without reform, 178,000 small business jobs will be lost in 2018 as a result of healthcare costs, and with reform, up to 128,000 of those jobs could be saved. [The Economist Impact of Healthcare Reform on Small Business, 6/11/09]

Small Business Majority Study: With Reform, Small Business Will Save As Much As $855 Billion Over The Next 10 Years. Small Business Majority Study: “Without reform, small businesses will pay nearly $2.4 trillion dollars over the next ten years in healthcare costs for their workers. With reform, the study shows that small businesses can save as much as $855 billion, a reduction of 36 percent, money that can be reinvested to grow the economy.” [The Economic Impact of Healthcare Reform on Small Business, 6/11/09]

National Small Business Association: “Health-Care Reform Can Not Wait Yet Another Year.” “Health-care reform topped the list of small-business priorities when members of the National Small Business Association voted recently on issues they want Congress and President Barack Obama to address. The group said it supports ‘broad health-care reform’ that will reduce costs, improve quality, create a fair sharing of health-care costs, and focus on individuals’ responsibilities as health-care consumers. ‘Given the current state of the U.S. economy, the fact that our members voted health-care reform their number one priority ought to send a strong message to Congress,’ NSBA President Todd McCracken said in a written statement. ‘Health-care reform can not wait yet another year.’” [Orlando Sentinel, 3/9/09]

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