Posted by Molly Nelson - Earlier this week, I had the opportunity to accompany Kristie, the Executive Director of the NASE's Legislative Office here in Washington, D.C., to a briefing on health care reform at the new Capitol Visitors Center. The briefing, put on by the
Coalition for Affordable Health Coverage, was aimed at members of Congress and congressional staff and focused on the potential impact of an employer mandate for health coverage on small businesses.
Along with Kristie, representatives from the Retail Association of Massachusetts, the National Retail Federation, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce spoke at the briefing. Kristie shared some of the
results of the NASE's recent survey on health care reform, and stressed that micro-business owners are particularly concerned about mandates because of the burden they would place on small firms.
However, she did note that the addition of tax credits made small business owners more open to an individual mandate, and that micro-businesses support an employer mandate if, and only if, there is an exemption for small businesses and significant subsidies attached. Kristie also stated that responses to the survey had made it clear that micro-business owners wanted the federal government to regulate the insurance market, not become an insurer.