Government mandated universal health care proposals are back in the news in the US. In an article at Inc.com, they make is sound like a good thing for small business.
Currently, bills have been introduced in 18 state legislatures calling for a universal health care plan. Small business owners who provide health insurance plans to their employees are paying particular attention to the debate, as a universal health-care system could help alleviate some of the rising costs employer-sponsored plans are facing.
Based on what data? Government mandated programs of any kind are a slippery slope. Passing a simple mandate that requires only basic coverage may save some small businesses money by not requiring rich benefits. But once in place, the lobbyists for this and that get to work and the plan requirements grow and grow along with the costs.
They also try to pull a shell game on workers to make it look like it is the business owner who has to pay and not them. But this is wrong. Small business owners have only so much money to pay employees. If there are more benefits mandated that will shrink the pot of funds available for salary. While the employees think it is a free benefit, it is merely an illusion as it comes out of the same finite amount of money.