[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 14]
[House]
[Page 19556]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                  HEALTH CARE EFFECT ON SMALL BUSINESS

  (Mr. HALL of New York asked and was given permission to address the 
House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. HALL of New York. Mr. Speaker, skyrocketing private health 
insurance costs are already crippling small businesses. Last week, I 
sat down with one of my constituents to hear about her situation. 
Kristine Effaldana is a small business owner and employs nine workers 
at her company. She has been paying the full cost of premiums for her 
employees because she knows how important health insurance is.
  Unfortunately, Kristine recently got a call from her broker saying 
the premiums for covering her nine employees are going up 20 percent in 
August. Now Kristine is forced to pass on part of that cost to her 
employees, hire fewer employees, or stop offering them health care 
altogether. That is the status quo we're dealing with, and it is 
unacceptable.
  We must do more to help small business owners who are trying to do 
the right thing by providing for their employees. Congress must pass 
comprehensive health reform to ease their burden.

                          ____________________