Health Care Is Top Issue for Small Businesses

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The cost of providing health care is the top concern of small businesses in California, according to a survey released Wednesday by Small Business California, a non-partisan business advocacy group.


In the annual survey, 91 percent of the 429 small business owners responding said the availability and rising cost of health care coverage was either their top priority or a high-priority issue.


“The results of this survey show that health care continues to be a major issue for small businesses in California and that we must get a grasp on rising health care costs and ensure fair access to coverage and care for the uninsured,” said Scott Hauge, a Bay Area insurance broker who formed Small Business California a few years ago and is now its president.


“Small businesses need all the help they can get when it comes to meeting their health care needs,” Hauge said.


Right behind health care as a top concern was workers compensation: 83 percent of the business owners responding said it was either a top priority or a high priority, despite major reforms to the system two years ago. This finding was consistent with another recently released survey of small businesses in the state from Union Bank of California.


The quality of education, upgrading the state’s infrastructure and the extent of government regulation also registered as major concerns.


Overall, 58 percent of the respondents said “things in California are pretty seriously off on the wrong track,” the survey said.


The survey was taken of companies with fewer than 100 employees. About 80 percent of the respondents said they had fewer than 20 employees.

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