Cass Ballenger: “Congress will soon consider the issue of employer liability in the concern with healthcare. As a small business owner…”

“Congress will soon consider the issue of employer liability in the concern with healthcare. As a small business owner myself with 200 employees, the decision is simple. If faced with the slimmest possibility of being sued for voluntarily providing health care to my employees, I will stop providing such benefits and give them the cash equivalent. I will not be alone. Recently a poll of small business owners found that 57 percent of small businesses would drop health care coverage for employees if employer liability was increased. This potentially could lead to the end of employer-based health care and leave tens of millions of people without health care coverage. H.R. 2926, the CARE Act, would ensure patients' rights without exposing employers to lawsuits for voluntarily providing health care and benefits to their employees. The CARE Act also allows small employers to band together to provide health care benefits for their employees by pooling their purchasing power in a new association health plan. This provision would create affordable access to health care for millions. Let small business and employers continue to provide health care benefits to the American workforce. Vote for 2926.”