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One Possible Remedy for Small-Biz Health Insurance
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Business New Haven
3/17/2003
By: BNH
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NEW HAVEN - A study released March 17 recommends the expansion of the state's Municipal Employees' Health Insurance Plan (MEHIP) to small businesses. Towns, municipalities and non-profits that do business with the state are currently the exclusive participants in MEHIP and the study recommends opening the program to allow small company employers as well.
The majority of Connecticut residents employed by small businesses with fewer than ten employees do not have health insurance, according to the Lewin Group, a health-policy consulting firm that was commissioned by the Anthem Foundation of Connecticut for the study. Anthem Foundation president Juan Figueroa says the number of uninsured workers at small businesses tops 55,000.
Expanding MEHIP, a program administered by the state Comptroller's Office, could address a growing problem and offer affordable health care to many small businesses in the state, the study concludes.
"It would help by establishing in Connecticut another insurance pool to insure small businesses. There is only one such pool in the state right now and that is the one run by the Connecticut Business & Industry Association [CBIA]," says Figueroa. "It's a successful one, but it's not enough. With 180,000 people working at small businesses, the CBIA is obviously not reaching everyone.
"One of the rationales is that by increasing the competition and putting another insurance pool, it'll give people more choices for the available vehicles that employers can go to," Figueroa explains.
"It's not necessarily a new idea. The Comptroller's office is generally in favor of this, but the study brings a thorough analysis of the problem and confirms that there is a viable alternative for providing health insurance to small employers," Figueroa says.
Says Leslie Brett, vice chair of Anthem Foundation's board of directors, "If we could provide affordable insurance to these workers and their family members, we would significantly reduce the number of uninsured people in our state. Connecticut needs a strategy to provide affordable health insurance to owners and workers in small businesses."
Based on the study's findings, Anthem recommends small employers would pay the full price of premiums and it would not be a subsidized program. Anthem sees this as a more affordable option since the state's MEHIP is a purchasing cooperative that obtains better prices for its participants.
This study was released to coincide with a national campaign to call attention to the needs of those without health insurance and possible solutions to the problem. March 10-15 was "The Week of the Uninsured."
Headquarted in New Haven, the Anthem Foundation serves as a catalyst for structural change in health-care delivery and financing systems on behalf of universal, affordable, accessible, quality health care in Connecticut.
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