Entrepreneurs labor over health-care costs

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.bizjournals.com/buffalo/stories/2008/03/24/daily34.html

Business First of Buffalo - by Adam Sichko The Albany Business Review

Niagara County businesseswoman Cathey Sandman decided to drop health insurance coverage for herself and her husband earlier this year after their monthly premiums grew larger than their mortgage payments.

Less than two weeks later, Sandman, whose licensed day care in Lockport serves 21 children, was in the hospital having her appendix removed. She's now facing a $10,000 bill.

"It came down to buying groceries and paying the electric bill, or buying health insurance," Sandman said. "It became a real crunch on what I could do with my business."

State legislators heard Sandman's story -- and other similar tales of struggle -- from about 100 small business advocates today at the Capitol. The group, mostly small business owners, spent the day lobbying legislators on one issue: stopping proposed state budget initiatives that would add to the mounting costs of health insurance.

The top worry is a potential tax on health insurance premiums, first proposed by former Gov. Eliot Spitzer, that would raise $350 million for the state's 2008-09 fiscal year. The state faces a $4.6 billion deficit, and the state Senate said today that it will work through the weekend to meet an April 1 budget deadline.

"We can't tax our way up and out of this deficit ditch," said Kenneth Adams, president of The Business Council of New York State Inc. The group helped coordinate the day-long lobbying event.

FULL story at link.