View this article online: https://www.insurancejournal.com/news/southeast/2009/07/27/102516.htm

Survey: Tennessee Small Businesses Struggling with Health Insurance Costs

With Congress debating how to reform Athe nation’s health care system, a new survey report reveals that 79 percent of Tennessee’s small business owners, including the self-employed, are struggling to afford healthcare coverage and a considerable majority support changes, including more oversight of the private insurance industry.

Eighty-eight percent of the state’s small business owners report that it will be a significant challenge in the future to offer health insurance coverage to employees

The survey and report – American Health Care Reform: Serious Business for Tennessee’s Small Businesses– were issued by Vanderbilt University, Peabody College Center for Community Studies and the Tennessee Small Business Coalition.

Other findings from the report include:

• 79 percent report they are “really struggling” to afford the cost of health coverage.
• 61 percent believe that reforming heath care now is a step to getting the economy back on track.
• 73 percent report everyone should have a choice between quality, affordable public and private plans
• 70 percent want more public oversight of private insurers.

“This study provides new insight into the opinions of small business owners across Tennessee and shows their preferences for health care reform issues,” says Craig Anne Heflinger, professor of human and organizational development in Vanderbilt University’s Peabody College of Education and Human Development and a coauthor of the report.