[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 81 (Thursday, June 23, 1994)]
[House]
[Page H]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: June 23, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
     THE MYTH OF SMALL BUSINESS SUPPORT FOR MANDATED HEALTH REFORM

  (Mrs. MEYERS of Kansas asked and was given permission to address the 
House for 1 minute.)
  Mrs. MEYERS of Kansas. Mr. Speaker, whenever the issue of mandated 
health care and the concerns of small business are discussed, someone 
always claims that those businesses who currently provide health 
insurance for their employees would support such a mandate to level the 
playing field. This is a fallacy.
  Small business owners are fiercely independent by nature. Those who 
currently provide health insurance are able to determine the coverage 
they can offer and at what cost. A government mandate removes all 
future control from the small business owner over the type of benefit 
he will offer to his employee, and how much he will pay. The Government 
will specify the terms and conditions of coverage. The Government will 
tell the entrepreneur that he must pay 80 percent of the premiums. The 
Government will create a huge new bureaucracy to collect the new 
payroll taxes and administer health care reform that is supposed to 
reduce the cost of health care. If anyone listening right now thinks 
that getting the Government more involved in health care will save 
money, I would love to talk to you about some beach front property I 
own in Kansas.
  Small business owners know that the basic benefits package will 
continually expand, as interest groups appeal to Congress to add more 
and more services. They know that health care costs and paperwork 
burdens will increase in a big Federal bureaucracy. They know that 
mandated health care will cause some businesses to fold, and possibly 
millions of jobs to be lost.
  Small business owners, including those currently offering health 
care, still believe that the Government that governs best, governs 
least. Let us heed their wisdom and real world experience--oppose 
employer mandates in health care reform.

                          ____________________