Nancy L. Johnson: “When the government says ``This is the package and you will pay a percent of payroll for this package,'' then the…”

“When the government says ``This is the package and you will pay a percent of payroll for this package,'' then the employer is in a very different situation than he is today. For example, in Connecticut we have been through very hard times. Many of our employers held on by their literal fingernails. Many went out of business. Many had to downsize. I was in a company recently that downsized from 85 employees to 15. They also downsized from a very generous health plan to a catastrophic benefit plan. If the employer mandate is passed, and those kinds of companies in a downturn have to continue to provide Fortune 100 benefit plans, and at least 9 percent of payroll to pay for it, then when those orders start slowing up, they will lay off much more rapidly and, frankly, they will go bankrupt and go out of business much more rapidly. We will not, as a Nation, be able to weather recessions the way we are now, because our employers will not only have Social Security as a fixed cost, and remember, originally Social Security was 1 percent of payroll, and now it is 15 percent of payroll. This is proposed to be 7.9 percent of payroll, but everyone knows it is underfunded. It will have to be at least 9.5 percent of payroll, perhaps higher.”