Survey: Small Businesses Crushed by Rising Health Costs

Philadelphia, PA, July 21, 2009— Pennsylvania small business owners are being crushed by rising health care costs, according to a new report released by Pennsylvania Public Interest Research Group on South Street in Philadelphia today.

The new report, The Small Business Dilemma, makes clear that small business owners, like Peter MacLeod, need health care reform.

“Right now we simply cannot afford coverage.  When I broke both of my wrists recently it meant an added cost we could not afford to bear.  I know there are thousands of other small business owners that are facing similar dilemmas.” McLeod said.

343 small business owners and managers around the country took part in a snapshot survey of small businesses by U.S. PIRG, the federation of state Public Interest Research Groups. The result, The Small Business Dilemma, finds that the costs and administrative hassles associated with offering insurance weigh particularly heavily on small businesses.

According to the 14-page report:

•    Small businesses value health insurance as a key to business success because it allows them to attract better employees.

•    78% of small business owners surveyed who do not offer coverage would like to do so but face high affordability barriers.
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PennPIRG, the Pennsylvania Public Interest Research Groups, is a statewide, non-profit, non-partisan public interest advocacy organization. For more information, visit http://www.pennpirg.org