Nearly nine in 10 small businesses in California say the lack of availability and high cost of health insurance is a problem and want elected officials in Sacramento to place a high priority on fixing it, according to a survey released last week.

The annual survey from Small Business California, a San Francisco-based small business association, found that 88 percent of the 418 small businesses surveyed said that fixing health care should be either a high priority or the highest priority of state elected officials.

“Small businesses are very serious about this issue and are willing to bring money to the table if the cost of health insurance can be brought down and future increases can be controlled,” said Scott Hauge, president of Small Business California.

Sixty percent of respondents favored a health care reform plan similar to the one proposed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger with “shared responsibility between employers, employees and the government.” But an overwhelming 91 percent said there should be purchasing pools for small businesses to give them more bargaining power in negotiating health care premiums.

The survey also found an almost even split among respondents on whether California was headed in the right direction (41 percent) or was on the wrong track (42 percent). In a similar vein, 47 percent rated the state’s business climate as “fair,” while 28 percent said it was “good” and only 19 percent said it was “poor.”

These results contrast with responses three or four years ago, when overwhelming majorities said the state was on the wrong track and rated the>