Small Business Health Insurance #1 Concern for Employers
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But now, as rising fuel prices squeeze these same employers, many small businesses are being forced to either stop offering any form of small business health insurance, or close their doors for good.
According to the Small Business Problems and Priorities survey cited at The Baltimore Business Journal, employers have been struggling to offer their employees health coverage for 20 years. And, as the costs of small business health insurance continue to rise much faster than the rate of inflation, health care is a problem that isn't going to go away any time soon.
But now, 42.3% of business owners also cite fuel costs as a problem of "critical concern." As the costs of propane, gasoline and diesel oil go up and beyond record levels, it's the smaller companies with slimmer margins who really feel the effects.
Is it any wonder, then, that in the last several years small business health insurance has been waning in popularity. Fewer and fewer employers can offer it at all, and when they do it's rare that such coverage can be expanded to include more services, or family members.
We're used to thinking that rising gas prices might mean fewer vacation plans or more carpooling, but for small business owners, it can mean losing good employees who go on to bigger businesses with more health care options, it can mean charging more for services that buyers might go elsewhere to find, and it can even mean the end to a hard-earned business itself.