Posted by Molly Nelson - I'm not sure quite what it is about the first week in June, but for
some reason Washington is buzzing with talk of health care reform.
This week I've been fortunate enough to attend two discussions on
health care.
On Tuesday at the Brookings Institution
I heard Christina Romer, Chair of the President's Council of Economic
Advisers, introduce the Council's new report on the economic case for
health care reform. In her comments about the report, Ms. Romer said
"we examined the fact that small businesses are currently disadvantaged
in the labor market because employer-sponsored health care insurance is
so expensive for them. Moving to an insurance system that removes this
disadvantage would be beneficial to the competitiveness of the crucial
small-business sector of the economy."
And on Wednesday I attended a House Committee on Small Business hearing
on finding the best reform solutions for small businesses. Committee
Chairwoman Nydia Velazquez (D-N.Y.) also remarked in her opening
statement that "one thing is very clear - if we're going to fix
healthcare, we have to start with small businesses."
It is exciting that not only are economists and legislators talking
about health care reform, but that they are looking at possible reform
measures with small businesses in mind.