Capitol Hill

In September, NRCA Vice President Jim Eckstein, president of C.A. Eckstein Roofing Inc., Cincinnati, traveled to Washington, D.C., to testify before the House Small Business Committee on NRCA's behalf regarding the issue of health care reform. The discussion during this hearing, which included members of Congress, small-business representatives and health care policy experts, provided a preview of what could be a historic debate regarding health care reform in 2009.

A longtime goal

For more than a decade, health insurance costs have been rising at alarming rates, especially for small businesses. As a result, many roofing contracting companies and other small businesses have been forced to eliminate health insurance coverage or reduce employee benefits.

Given this problem, the enactment of legislation to reform health insurance markets to control costs and expand access to affordable health care has been one of NRCA's goals for many years.

So when Rep. Nydia Velázquez (D-N.Y.), chairwoman of the House Small Business Committee, and Rep. Jim Chabot (R-Ohio), the committee's ranking Republican, announced the committee would hold a hearing titled "Making Health Reform Work for Small Business," NRCA welcomed the opportunity to participate.

Eckstein's recent purchase of health insurance for his company made him a perfect candidate to represent NRCA at the event.

Speaking from experience

In his testimony before the committee, Eckstein related his company's repeated double-digit health insurance premium increases because of cases of cancer and other health conditions among his employees. As a result of these increases, C.A. Eckstein Roofing was forced to increase the amount its employees pay for health care benefits, which has made it more difficult to attract and retain quality employees.

Next, Eckstein told the committee about NRCA's support for the Small Business Cooperative for Healthcare Options to Improve Coverage for Employees (CHOICE) Act of 2008, or H.R. 6582, as a solution to excessive health insurance costs. This legislation recently was introduced by Velázquez and Rep. Joseph R. Pitts (R-Pa.).

The CHOICE Act would provide for the creation of new purchasing cooperatives designed to allow small businesses to stabilize health insurance costs by pooling risks and increasing economies of scale. The legislation also would provide a refundable tax credit to small-business owners who purchase health insurance for their employees through a cooperative.

Eckstein concluded his testimony by stating: "NRCA is committed to working with members of Congress to obtain enactment of the CHOICE Act and other bipartisan proposals that effectively address the problems small businesses face in obtaining access to affordable health insurance. Enactment of such legislation will improve the health and well-being of millions of working families across the nation and also will greatly enhance our economy."

Health care reform

Other witnesses at the hearing provided a range of policy options for how to restrain the cost of health insurance. There was consensus that the status quo of spiraling costs is unacceptable, Congress must take action to address the issue and a bipartisan solution should be developed.

However, it remains unclear whether consensus is developing on many specific aspects of how best to restrain health care costs.

The House Small Business Committee hearing provided only a brief glimpse of the coming Congressional debate about health care reform. But by appearing on Capitol Hill, Eckstein has helped NRCA play an active role in shaping federal policy on this critical issue.

Duane L. Musser is NRCA's senior director of federal affairs.