Survey: Illinois Small Businesses Crushed by Rising Health Costs

Illinois small business owners are being crushed by rising health care costs, and feel left out of the current health care debate in Washington, according to a report recently released by Illinois Public Interest Research Group in Evanston.

The new report, The Small Business Dilemma, shows that small business owners, like Lynn Bednar, owner of Walsh Natural Health Care, need health care reform, the group said.

Bednar, who said she’d like to provide health benefits to her employees but can’t afford it, was one of 343 small business owners and managers around the country to take part in a snapshot survey of small businesses by U.S. PIRG, the federation of state Public Interest Research Groups. The result, The Small Business Dilemma, finds that the costs and administrative hassles associated with offering insurance weigh particularly heavily on small businesses.

According to the 14-page report:

• Small businesses value health insurance as a key to business success because it allows them to attract better employees.
• 78 percent of small business owners surveyed who do not offer coverage would like to do so but face high affordability barriers.

The Illinois Public Interest Research Group (Illinois PIRG) is a non-profit, non-partisan, public interest advocacy organization. For a copy of the report and more information visit www.illinoispirg.org.

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