I do believe that health care is extremely important and everyone should be covered. However, the thought of "nationalized health care" make me queasy.  The government bureaucracy will make health care more complex and most likely more expensive.  The cost of providing the care is what is making insurance so expensive - and so far I haven't heard how that problem will be addressed.  In my opinion, adding the usual bureaucratic red-tape to the mix will only worsen the problem.  All the government will do is shift the burden of who is going to pay the high premiums.

As a self-employed individual, and an employer, I obtained a health care plan for my employees shortly after I began hiring and I have always paid 100% of their premiums.  I was offering health care when some big companies were not (Wal-Mart) and even now, very few employers pay 100% of the premiums for their employees.  That cost has gone up dramatically over the years.  I remember getting a letter from our insurance company one year that said "Good news!  Your premiums are ONLY going up 7% this year."  I about fell over, but compared to other years - that was good news.

My biggest fear is that if some form of nationalized health care passes, small employers like myself (and many of you) will not only bear the burden of paying your health care premiums, and your employees', but will also wind up paying higher taxes to fund the government's program for those who cannot afford their own coverage (or work for employers who do not offer coverage).  The cost of health care is very high - the government will have to pay for it.  We are already running a severe deficit, so where is the money going to come from?  It will have to come from higher taxes on somebody and I believe that will be most of us "small business persons." 

I am very skeptical of huge government programs that promise something to everyone when nobody is talking about who is going to foot the bill.  This the largest and scariest of all of them.

I would like to see some plans for actually getting the cost of medical care down so that insurance can be more affordable to everyone.  I also would not have a problem with requiring employers to offer coverage to their employees who are not covered under another plan, such as a spouse's.  I have already been doing that for years and I feel a personal obligation to do so - I don't think the government should have to mandate it, but there are many employers out there who won't do it unless they have to even though they could afford to. 

Good topic.  It is certainly something that I am keeping an eye on with the upcoming elections.  So far, I haven't heard enough to ease my concerns.

Best,
Robert A. Franco
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