Key Findings From A Survey Among Small Business Owners in Kansas

Slide 2

On behalf of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and The Sunflower Foundation, Public Opinion Strategies and Lake Research Partners conducted a statewide telephone survey in Kansas among 200 owners, CEOs, and presidents of businesses with 2-50 employees. This survey was conducted August 22 – September 5, 2008.

On behalf of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, in May/July 2008, the research team conducted: 10 triad qualitative discussion groups among small business owners with 2-50 employees and a national telephone survey among 400 small business owners, CEOs, and presidents of businesses with 2-50 employees that pay for at least some portion of their employees’ health insurance benefits.

This presentation will highlight the key findings from the Kansas survey as well as highlighting some comparisons to the triads and the national survey data.

Slide 3

The table below shows the breakdown of businesses with 2-50 employees in Kansas compared to nationally:

Small Businesses# Of

Businesses

National

% Of Total

National

# Of Businesses

Kansas

% Of Total

Kansas

2-50 Employees 5,121,027 57,381

2-9 Employees 3,994,401 78% 46,767 82%

10-24 Employees 819,364 16% 7,512 13%

25-50 Employees 307,262 6% 3,102 5%

The surveys were designed to reflect the proportion of small businesses in Kansas and nationally by company size. We conducted 38 additional interviews in Kansas among companies with 25-50 employees and 295 interviews nationally among companies with 10-50 employees in order to have a statistically significant number of cases to make observations about these audiences.

Slide 4

Comparing Kansas to the National Average

National Kansas

Gender: Men/Women 76%/24% 73%/27%

Age 18-44 18% 14%

Age 45-54 35% 31%

Age 55-64 36% 41%

Age 65 and over 10% 14%

Member of the Chamber of Commerce and/or the National Federation of Independent

Businesses49% 56%

Slide 5

Comparing Kansas to the National Average

National Kansas

Provides and pays at least some portion of health insurance benefits for coverage

of full-time employees100%* 60%

Percent of businesses who do not currently offer coverage who did

previouslyN/A 31%

Percent of health insurance premiums paid for by employees

17% 20%

Percent of company’s health care costs increase from last year to this year

14% 13%

Feelings about own business’ financial future: Confident/Not Confident

84%/14% 82%/16%

*The National Survey was conducted only among small business owners who pay at least some portion of health insurance benefits for coverage of full-time employees.

Slide 6

60%53%

88%95%

40%47%

12%5%

Core 2-9Employees

10-24Employees

25-50Employees

Offers Coverage Does Not Offer Coverage

+20% +6% +76% +90%

There is a significant difference in whether or not Kansas small business owners offer coverage by company size.

Kansas Small Business Owners

Slide 8

Small business owners are facing health care costs rising at an unpredictable rate;

They are worried about the issue in terms of their families and businesses;

They connect offering health care benefits to retaining quality employees particularly among those companies who offer coverage now; and,

They see a role for government in addressing the issue but do not like mandates.

Slide 9

On an open-ended survey question nationally, the issues facing businesses were very similar across each small business segment surveyed. Health care

and energy costs dominate as a primary concern for business owners.

Health care costs

78Fuel/Energy costs

70Weak economy

55Cash flow/Sales

28Higher prices across the board

24Finding/Retaining good employees

20Taxes

19Housing downturn

18Government regulation

18Insurance problems/costs

16Increased cost of raw materials

15Finding new customers/business

12Low consumer confidence

11Higher food prices

7Competition, particularly foreign competition

6Government inaction/incompetency

5Inflation

5Layoffs

3Difficulty getting loans

2

What would you say are the one or two most important issues facing your business today?

Categories Of Topics Mentioned Number Of Mentions

Slide 11

Kansas small business owners who currently offer coverage are

less likely than their national counterparts to say they would consider no longer providing or paying at least some portion of

health insurance benefits for their employees.

Slide 12

28% 28%35%

12%

66% 65% 63%

88%

Core2-9

Employees10-24

Employees25-50

Employees

Likely Not Likely

-38% -37% -28% -76%

36% 36% 36%27%

62% 60% 62%

73%

Core 2-9Employees

10-24Employees

25-50Employees

-26% -24% -26% -46%

Likelihood Companies Will No Longer Assist With Health Care Coverage – Among Companies Who Currently Offer Coverage

Na

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lK

an

sas

Slide 13

Perceived Impact Of Health Care Legislation To Help Small Businesses-Kansas

Help Hurt No Impact

34%

42%38%

33%

13% 14%

Among Business WhoCurrently Offer Coverage

Among Businesses WhoCurrently Do Not Offer Coverage

-4% +9%

Small business owners in Kansas who do not currently offer coverage are more likely to say it would help their business if

health care legislation was passed.

Slide 14

1. Creating a small business tax credit

2. Making health care coverage portable

3. Passing medical liability reform

4. Promoting a government sponsored pool for small businesses

In Kansas the top supported policy options we tested are:

Slide 15

Total Help

Total Hurt

Net Difference

Most Helpful Ideas - Kansas

Create a new small business tax credit to make it easier for small businesses to create and offer jobs with health coverage. The government would provide a refundable income tax credit to employers who currently pay at least fifty percent of the cost of group health insurance for their employees.

Pass medical liability reform to eliminate lawsuits against doctors who have followed the correct clinical guidelines and have followed the right safety standards in patient care.

Make health insurance portable so that individuals and families keep their coverage even when they change jobs or employers.

Promote a government-sponsored pool for small businesses that would allow them to purchase insurance at negotiated rates that take advantage of bulk purchasing power.

Slide 16

Require by law that all insurers can not deny coverage, including for pre-existing conditions, refuse renewal of coverage, unfairly charge for coverage, or force those they cover to pay excessive premiums for age, illness, or other discriminating factors.

Total Help

Total Hurt

Net Difference

Second Tier - Most Helpful Ideas - Kansas

Expand and encourage the use of health savings accounts - that is a tax-free medical savings account coupled with a high-deductible health insurance plan. The money consumers put into these Health Savings Accounts would roll over year to year to help build a source of funds that can only be used to cover out-of-pocket health care expenses.

Slide 17

Total Help

Total Hurt

Net Difference

Less Helpful Ideas - Kansas

Repeal the tax cuts that have been enacted over the past few years for Americans who make over two hundred and fifty thousand dollars a year in order to help employers be able to offer health coverage to their employees.

Eliminate the current tax credit employers receive for providing health coverage to their employees and instead provide all Americans with a tax credit to select and buy their own health insurance. This individual tax credit would reduce Americans’ taxes by two thousand five hundred dollars for singles and five thousand dollars for families.

Guarantee all Americans a choice of health plans, either from a private insurer, or from a new public government plan offered at a sliding scale cost based on income. Employers would be required to offer a choice of the public plan and at least one private plan to all employees and small businesses would receive discounts based on a sliding scale.

Allow trade or professional organizations, churches, and unions to offer health insurance plans to their members around the country.

Slide 18

Net DifferenceRequire employers who have ten

or more employees who today do not provide health coverage to their employees to NOW pay four percent of their payroll to help cover the uninsured.

Help Hurt

The One Statement Where A Majority Of Respondents Say This Will Hurt

A majority of respondents in Kansas say an employer mandate would hurt their small

business.

Net DifferenceRequire employers who have ten

or more employees who today do not provide health coverage to their employees to NOW pay four percent of their payroll to help cover the uninsured.

Help Hurt

Na

tio

na

lK

an

sas

Slide 19

Promote a government-sponsored pool for small businesses

2-9 Employees

10-24 Employees

25-50 Employees

KansasCore

Ideas Most Important To Focus On First - Kansas

Create a new small business tax credit

Provide all Americans with a tax credit to select and buy their own health insurance

Make health insurance portable

On an open-ended survey question, only five of the proposals received a double-digit mention as the one or two proposals that would help their businesses the

most in Kansas.

Expand & encourage health savings accounts

Slide 20

After testing each idea individually, we created policy bundles to

combine different policy ideas into three different policy approaches.

Support is higher for a more market based reform approach or a

government sponsored pool/tax credit reform approach.

Slide 21

Would provide all Americans with a tax credit to select and buy their own

private health insurance that they could keep and take with them

between jobs. This would eliminate the current tax credit employers

receive for providing health insurance to their employees. It

would expand and encourage the use of tax-free health savings accounts to cover out-of-pocket health care

expenses, while allowing organizations, churches, and unions

to offer health insurance plans to their members around the country.

Medical liability reform would be passed to eliminate lawsuits against doctors who have followed correct guidelines and safety standards in

patient care.

OPTION 1: Market Based Reform Approach

68% 68%

28% 30%

National Kansas

Favor Oppose

+40% +38%

Strongly Favor 26%

Strongly Favor 23%

Strongly Oppose

13%

Strongly Oppose

15%

Slide 22

53%61%

45%39%

National Kansas

Favor Oppose

+8% +22%

78%66%

20%

34%

National Kansas

Favor Oppose

+58% +32%

Would promote a government-sponsored pool for small businesses to purchase

insurance at bulk purchasing rates. Small businesses would get a new tax credit to make it easier to offer health coverage if

they pay at least fifty percent of the cost of employee health insurance. This proposal would require employers with ten or more

employees who today do not provide health coverage to pay four percent of

their payroll to help cover the uninsured.

Would promote a government-sponsored pool for small businesses to purchase

insurance at bulk purchasing rates. Small businesses would get a new tax credit to make it easier to offer health coverage if

they pay at least fifty percent of the cost of employee health insurance.

With the four percent employer mandate proposal…

Without the four percent employer mandate proposal…

Strongly Favor 23%

Strongly Oppose

25%

Strongly Favor 15%

Strongly Oppose

23%

Strongly Favor 37%

Strongly Oppose

12%Strongly Favor 32%

Strongly Oppose

21%

OPTION 2: Government Sponsored Pools And Tax Credits Approach

Slide 23

53%50%

44%48%

National Kansas

Favor Oppose

+9% +2%Would guarantee all Americans a choice of public or private health plans that they could keep and take with them between jobs.

Employers would be required to offer a choice of the public plan and at least one private plan.

Insurance companies would not be allowed to deny people coverage

due to age or pre-existing conditions. This proposal would be paid for by repealing the tax cuts enacted over the past few

years for Americans making more than two-hundred and fifty-

thousand dollars.

OPTION 3: Guaranteed Government Approach

.

Strongly Favor 26%

Strongly Oppose

33%

Strongly Favor 22%

Strongly Oppose

35%

Turning Questions into Answers

www.pos.org ● 703-836-7655www.lakeresearch.com ●

202-776-9066