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With much of the current health care debate revolving around individual coverage, it's easy to see why so many employers are concerned about the future of small business health insurance.

But one candidate has addressed the topic in a recent speech. According to Kaiser's Daily Health Policy Report Democratic nominee Barack Obama discussed tax credits for those employers who purchase small business health insurance for their employees.

Under his proposal, small businesses would receive a refundable tax credit equal to about 50% of insurance premiums for employees. The small business health insurance offered would need to be of good quality and cover a "meaningful" share of costs to qualify, but could still go a long way in helping small business owners offer coverage without endangering their businesses.

The cost would run about $6 billion a year, and Obama suggests it would be paid for by allowing market entry of more generic drugs and through other savings he predicts will come out of his revised health plan.

Of course getting pharmaceutical companies to give up some of their profits wouldn't be an easy task. However, we can only hope that Obama's proposal means that small business health insurance won't be forgotten in the health care shuffle of 2009.