President Obama Says Small Businesses to Gain From Health-Care Overhaul

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=aoastX4gPbFM

President Barack Obama said small businesses that are now overwhelmed by medical-insurance costs would benefit from his proposed overhaul of the U.S. health-care system.

In his weekly address on the radio and Internet, Obama said he regularly hears from small-business owners who can’t grow their companies because of rising health-care costs and entrepreneurs who can’t start new ventures because of health- insurance concerns.

“Rising health-care costs are undermining our businesses, exploding our deficits and costing our nation more jobs with each passing month,” Obama said.

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“Under these proposals, small businesses will be able to purchase health insurance through an insurance exchange, a marketplace where they can compare the price, quality and services of a wide variety of plans, many of which will provide better coverage at lower costs than the plans they have now,” Obama said.

Obama said that small businesses wouldn’t be required to cover their employees under his proposal, but could receive a tax credit if they chose to do so. Employees would also receive tax breaks to help them afford insurance, he said.

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Obama on Oct. 5 will welcome to the White House doctors who support his push for a health-care overhaul. Separately, the American Medical Association, the nation’s largest doctors’ group, expressed some concerns about the Senate Finance Committee measure, which also has drawn Republican opposition.

would be equal in the health insurance area. How often do people take jobs with large corporations because they need to make sure their families have coverage? They might consider a small business job if they did not have to worry about health insurance. That would be a true boost to small businesses that now cannot compete because they cannot provide the coverage.