WASHINGTON, September 14 – Hundreds of small business owners across the country will be calling Congress on Monday to tell their representatives they support comprehensive health care reform.
Over the past month, almost 2,000 small business owners from 23 states have signed letters urging their lawmakers to vote for health care reform a part of an effort led by the U.S. Public Interest Research Group, a long-time consumer advocacy organization.
Hundreds of those business owners will call their Representatives and Senators on Monday to tell them to support legislation that cuts costs, stops insurance companies from discriminating against people with pre-existing conditions and gives people the option of a public plan.
“Small businesses are among the hardest hit by rising costs and the abuses in the insurance market,” explained Larry McNeely, U.S. PIRG Health Care Advocate. “Since U.S. PIRG stands up to powerful interests, it makes sense that we team up with our country’s small business owners to bring their voices to Washington.”
As part of the joint effort, U.S. PIRG recently released a report based on surveys of hundreds of businesses across the country, The Small Business Dilemma: How Rising Health Care Costs are Tough on Small Business, which chronicles the plight of small businesses trying to take care of their employees health care needs while also struggling to survive in tough economic times.
“Elected leaders too often hear only from the well-paid lobbies of Washington groups claiming to speak for small business. If they take time to listen to the actual owners in their district, they'll hear a different story,” McNeely added.
Despite the obvious benefits that health care reform would bring to America’s small business owners, Washington business lobbies, like the National Federation of Independent Business and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, have been working against the health care legislation working its way through Congress.
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U.S. PIRG, federation of state Public Interest Research Groups, is a non-profit, non-partisan public interest advocacy organization. For more information visit http://www.uspirg.org
For more on U.S. PIRG’s health care reform campaign, click here.
