In a speech this morning to the Chamber of Commerce, small business owners and other organizations, President Obama pitched health care reform as something that would benefit small businesses.
“The bottom line is that too many Americans like you can’t afford to build the kinds of businesses you’d been hoping to build,” Obama said. “And too many budding entrepreneurs can’t afford to take a gamble on a smart idea because they can’t give up the health insurance they get in their current job. That’s bad for our economy, it’s bad for our country, and it’s what we’ll change when health insurance reform becomes law.”
He called the unveiling of the House version of the health care bill a “critical milestone.”
Many business organizations, including the Chamber of Commerce, have lobbied against health care reform.
Read the full remarks, as prepared for delivery, after the jump.
FULL REMARKS:
I asked you here today to talk about health insurance reform, and why it is so critical to the success of small businesses across our country. But before I do, let me take a minute to talk about the new economic numbers that were released this morning.
I am gratified that our economy grew in the third quarter of this year. We’ve come a long way since the first three months of 2009, when our economy shrunk by an alarming 6.4 percent. In fact, the 3.5 percent growth in the third quarter is the largest three-month gain we have seen in two years. This is obviously welcome news and an affirmation that this recession is abating and the steps we’ve taken have made a difference.
But I also know that we have a long way to go to fully restore our economy, and recover from what has been the longest and deepest downturn since the Great Depression. And while this report today represents real progress, the benchmark I use to measure the strength of our economy is not just whether our GDP is growing, but whether we are creating jobs, whether families are having an easier time paying their bills, whether our businesses are hiring and doing well. And that’s what I’m here to talk with you about today.
I know many of you have come from different corners of our country to be here and looking out at all of you, I’m reminded of the extraordinary diversity of America’s small businesses. You’re owners of coffee shops, diners, and hotels. You’re florists, exterminators, and builders. Each of your shops and firms reflects different passions, different ideas, and different skills.
But what you share is a willingness to pursue those passions, take a chance on those ideas, and make the most of those skills. What you share is an entrepreneurial spirit, a tireless work ethic, and a simple hope for something better that lies at the heart of the American ideal. Businesses like yours are the engine of job-growth in America. Over the past decade and a half, America’s small businesses have created 65 percent of all new jobs in this country. And more than half of all Americans working in the private sector are either employed by a small business or own one.
Now, even in good economic times, starting a business isn’t easy. It takes moxie, gumption, and ingenuity, and failure is often more likely than success. But I don’t have to tell all of you that it’s been particularly difficult over the past few years. From the middle of 2007 through the end of 2008, small businesses lost 2.4 million jobs. Thousands have shut their doors altogether. And because of the credit crunch, banks have shrunk back from lending, making it harder to get loans to branch out, finance your inventories, or even make payroll. Maybe you’ve had to forego raises. Maybe you’ve had to do the unthinkable and lay off friends or family.
So, I know how tough these times have been for small businesses. That’s why we made sure the Recovery Act included a number of measures to help small businesses weather this economic storm. We’ve put a tax cut into the pockets of the vast majority of small businesses owners and employees. We’ve supported nearly 35,000 loans to small businesses – more than $13 billion in new lending. More than 1,200 banks and credit unions that had stopped issuing SBA loans when the financial crisis hit are lending again today. And just last week, we proposed increasing the cap on what are called 7(a) and 504 loans – some of the loans most frequently handed out by the SBA.
But given the enormous problems small businesses and all Americans are facing today, these steps are by no means enough. If we’re serious about strengthening small businesses; if we’re serious about creating a climate where our entrepreneurs can succeed; if we’re serious about giving you the chance to prosper and grow, then we need to pass health insurance reform in the United States of America.
Few have a bigger stake in what happens than all of you. Few have a bigger stake than the men and women who own a small business, work at a small business, or rely on someone who does. Few have a bigger stake in what happens because few are struggling more under the status quo.
We all know that family premiums have skyrocketed more than 130 percent over the past decade. But small businesses have been hit harder than most. A story in the paper just the other day said that many small businesses may see their premiums rise about 15 percent over the coming year – twice the rate they rose last year. And in part because small businesses pay higher administrative costs than large ones, your employees pay up to 18 percent more in premiums for the very same health insurance policies.
In one national survey, nearly three quarters of small business that don’t offer benefits cited high premiums as the reason. Is anyone surprised by that?
The bottom line is that too many Americans like you can’t afford to build the kinds of businesses you’d been hoping to build. And too many budding entrepreneurs can’t afford to take a gamble on a smart idea because they can’t give up the health insurance they get in their current job. That’s bad for our economy, it’s bad for our country, and it’s what we’ll change when health insurance reform becomes law.
Just this morning, the House of Representatives released its version of health reform legislation, and I want to commend Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the Democratic Caucus for their leadership in achieving this critical milestone. There is no doubt that this legislation – and the legislation that’s now being drafted in the Senate – would benefit millions of small businesses. It is being written with the interests of Americans like you and your employees in mind.
And yet, there are those with a vested interest in the status quo who are claiming otherwise, using misleading figures and disingenuous arguments. So, let me try and explain as clearly as I can exactly what health insurance reform would mean for small business owners like you and the workers you employ.
The first thing I want to make clear is that if you’re happy with the insurance plan you have right now; if the costs you’re paying and the benefits you’re getting are what you want them to be – then you can keep offering that same plan. Nobody will make you change it.
What we will do is make your coverage more affordable by offering a tax credit to small businesses that are trying to do the right thing and provide coverage for their employees. And we will also make your coverage more stable and more secure. Right now, if just one of your workers falls seriously ill, it could spell disaster for your entire business. You could see your premiums shoot up and you could be faced with a painful choice: Do you eat the costs and ask your workers to contribute more? Do you seek another insurance plan, without any guarantee that you’ll be able to find one that’s affordable? Or do you scale back benefits or drop coverage altogether?
Well, I don’t think you should have to make a choice like that in the United States of America. Under health insurance reform, we will put an end to the days when an insurance company could use a worker’s illness to justify jacking up premiums. We’ll crack down on excessive overhead charges by setting strong standards on how much of your premiums can go toward administrative costs and requiring insurers to give you a refund if they violate those standards. It will be against the law for insurance companies to deny you coverage because of a pre-existing condition. And it will be against the law for insurance companies to drop your coverage when you get sick or water it down when you need it most.
They will no longer be able to place some arbitrary cap on the amount of coverage you can receive in a given year or a lifetime. If you get your insurance through your employer, we’ll change the cutoff on how old your kids can be to remain on your plan – we’ll raise it to 26 years old. We’ll place a limit on how much you can be charged for out-of-pocket expenses. And insurance companies will be required to cover, with no extra charge, routine checkups and preventive care, like mammograms and colonoscopies – because there’s no reason we shouldn’t be catching diseases like breast cancer and colon cancer before they get worse. That makes sense, it saves money, and it saves lives.
That’s what we’ll do for all the small businesses that have insurance. And for all the small businesses that don’t, we’ll finally make quality coverage affordable. Here’s how we’ll do it. One of the biggest problems in our health care system right now is that if you’re a small business owner or if you’re self-employed, you often have such a small number of workers that insurance companies aren’t all that interested in your business. As a result, you end up paying higher costs than big businesses that can get better deals because they have more workers.
So, what we’ll do is set up what we’re calling an exchange that will pool small businesses together. That will mean it’s not just you bargaining with insurance companies, it’s you and many others. With all that additional leverage, you’ll be able to get better deals than you ever could have received on your own. In fact, small businesses that choose one of the plans in this exchange could save 25 percent on their premiums by 2016. And we’ll also offer tax credits to make insurance even more affordable for millions of small businesses. Meanwhile, by expanding coverage for more Americans, we’ll help eliminate the “hidden tax” of more than $1,000 that workers pay to cover the medical expenses of the uninsured.
Now, it is true that when reform becomes law, businesses of a certain size who do not offer their workers health coverage may be required to contribute to the costs. Opponents of reform have tried to use this to mislead small business owners by claiming that you would be subject to this penalty. But the fact is, about 90 percent of all small businesses would be exempt from this requirement – about 90 percent. So, if your business is anything like the vast majority of small businesses out there, this requirement simply won’t apply to you – because I don’t think it’s fair to impose a penalty on small businesses.
That’s what health insurance reform would mean for you and for all our small businesses. It will reduce your costs. It will prevent small business owners from facing exorbitant rates. And it will make coverage affordable for all the small businesses that can’t afford it right now.
But it will also do something more. It will help remove the worry that if you have the courage to strike out on your own and open a business, you’ll be doomed from the start. It will help give entrepreneurs and all Americans the assurance of knowing they won’t go broke when they get sick. It will help ensure that no small business owner in America has to choose between being a successful employer or a decent one. It will help us be the kind of country we know ourselves to be.
What’s at stake, then, isn’t just the success of our businesses or the strength of our economy or even the health of our people. What’s at stake is that most American of ideas – that this is a place where you can make it if you try; where you can be your own boss; where the only limits to what you can achieve are your smarts, your savvy, and your dreams; where you can pass on to your children a better life than you inherited.
That’s what’s at stake. That’s what we are fighting for. And I am absolutely confident that if we do what must be done; if we can build an economy that works for all Americans; if we can promote innovation, foster growth, and build a better health care system – then not only will we ease the burdens on entrepreneurs, not only will we give our small businesses a big boost, and not only will we produce the kind of growth we so desperately need in this country, but we will secure the blessings of America for our children and grandchildren. Thank you, God bless you, and may God bless the United States of America.
