Health care tops list of business owners' woes
East Bay Business Times - by Susan L. Thomas
The availability and cost of health care topped a lengthy list of concerns for small businesses - ranking as more worrisome than workers' compensation and government regulation - in a survey published this week by Small Business California, a state business advocacy organization.
The annual survey collected the opinions of about 500 small-business owners and executives on issues including health care, education, workers' compensation, infrastructure, government regulations and energy.
The increasing cost of health care and its availability ranked as a "top priority" or "high priority" in 91 percent of the survey responses. Sixty-six percent of small businesses responding to the survey said they offer health insurance, compared with 29 percent that do not. Forty-four percent of small businesses providing coverage do not require employee contributions, compared with 37 percent that do.
Of the 500 surveyed, 90 percent said they strongly supported or somewhat supported creating purchasing pools for small businesses.
After health insurance, workers' compensation and the quality of public education ranked as top priority and high priority issues that elected officials should be addressing.
Small businesses surveyed also seemed to think that California is headed in the wrong direction, with 58 percent agreeing that things are "pretty seriously" on the wrong track, compared with 30 percent who said California was on the right track.
slthomas@bizjournals.com | 925-598-1432
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