NJPIRG spent much of the summer and fall engaging an important constituency in the health care debate: New Jersey’s small business owners.

In November, we worked in partnership with PIRGs across the country to send a cross-section of more than 100 small business owners to Washington, D.C., to meet with the administration and with lawmakers not yet committed to reform.

“It’s hard for a politician to categorize health reform as anti-business when droves of small business owners are telling them that they need reform, that the status quo is untenable,” said Rebecca Alper, NJPIRG program associate.

It’s also hard to ignore the ways that our current health care system drives up costs, especially for small businesses. Our research found that small businesses pay an average of 18 percent more for insurance. Like individual consumers, small businesses lack the negotiating power to get a better deal. They can also experience enormous increases in premiums if just one employee gets ill.

These dysfunctions in the system mean many small businesses and their employees can’t afford health insurance. The cost also discourages entrepreneurs from starting businesses—creating an economic problem, too.

Organizing In Key States
When Sen. Joe Lieberman proclaimed that he would filibuster a bill with a public insurance option, NJPIRG mobilized our members to urge the senator not to stand between the nation and reform.

One senator shouldn’t prevent a majority from acting on this critical issue—especially when the policy he objects to would, according to our research, save $320 billion over the next ten years.