Halls merchant represents Tennessee small-business owners in Washington

Murray Hudson of Antiquarian Books, Maps, Prints and Globes of Halls traveled to Washington, D.C. this week to meet with U.S. Congressman John Tanner and Sens. Bob Corker and Lamar Alexander concerning health care reform initiatives currently before Congress. [Click to enlarge]

Murray Hudson of Antiquarian Books, Maps, Prints and Globes of Halls will join three other small-business owners from the state to discuss the issue of health care with state and federal representatives in Washington. The group will take part in Small Business Day at the Capitol as a part of the Small Business Majority and The Tennessee Small Business Coalition.

The Small Business Majority is a national nonprofit organization focused on solving the single biggest problem facing America's 27 million small businesses - the skyrocketing cost of health care. The organization conducts extensive opinion and economic research and works with small-business owners, health care policy experts and elected officials nationwide to bring nonpartisan small-business voices to the public-policy table.

The Tennessee Small Business Coalition is a project of the Tennessee Health Care Campaign, a nonprofit, non-partisan organization working for guaranteed affordable choices in health care. TSBC was formed to give a voice to small-business owners as they struggle to secure affordable and quality health care for themselves and their employees.

"At least two-thirds of all jobs (in the nation) are provided by small businesses," said Hudson. "Small businesses are real hard pressed, especially if they have someone who has diabetes or has had cancer. Particularly around here, where there are not a lot of high-paying jobs."

Hudson will join Molly Secours, owner of One Woman Show Productions in Nashville; Mark Jacobs, owner of Burroughs-Ross-Colville Co. in McMinnville; and Greg Garr, owner of Garr Landscaping in Murfreesboro to meet with U.S. Congressman John Tanner, and U.S. Sens. Bob Corker and Lamar Alexander. The group will then accompany 100 other small-business owners from 24 states to the White House, where U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius will brief them on health care.

Last spring, the Tennessee Small Business Coalition sponsored a survey of 245 small-business owners in the state. The research was conducted by Vanderbilt University/Peabody College and partially funded by Small Business Majority.

The survey showed businesses in Tennessee need access to health care coverage to be successful, with 93 percent agreeing that businesses need a high-quality health care plan with predictable costs for planning and security.

In other findings:

* 55 percent offer health insurance coverage to their workers and 78 percent are struggling to afford it.

* 74 percent say it's important for individuals, employers, insurers, the government and health care providers to share the responsibility for making health care more affordable.

* 85 percent agreed the health care system should be transparent and accountable to the public.

* 70 percent also favor more public oversight of private health insurance companies.

For Hudson, the issue is more personal than just a survey of his fellow small-business owners. He has seen relatives and friends struggle on both sides of the health care system. He is close to both business owners and health care providers who are having trouble with the nation's health care system as it is.

"One of the main things (needed in the public option) is that the insurance companies can't kick you off the roll because you get a sickness," said Hudson. "And you cannot be denied because of a pre-existing illness. (Right now), insurance companies enjoy a monopoly status, not like other companies. They can charge whatever they want when you don't have any true options. Health care cannot just be about making money. Most of the health insurance companies started out as nonprofits. What is really staggering is that we are the only industrialized company in the world that doesn't have universal health care for all its citizens."

Hudson said insurance companies spend billions finding ways to kick customers off their rolls who are costing them money, even disqualifying residents who didn't list having acne in the past.

"The public option doesn't mean the government is going to take over," said Hudson. "It means the government is going to pay for it, subsidizing people just above the poverty line and requiring everyone to have insurance."

In a recent letter to U.S. Sen. Bob Corker, Hudson states that more than "840,000 Tennesseans are without health insurance. We have one of the sickest populations in the U.S. due to poor diet choices, smoking and general poverty. Tennessee would benefit greatly from a Public Insurance Option, which would enable less fortunate Tennesseans to purchase their health insurance at a rate they can afford. If properly set up with preventive care paid for, hospital emergency rooms - the most expensive form of care - would be replaced by doctors diagnosing illness before it becomes critical enough to go to an ER. Any plan that does not include affordable healthcare for all will only perpetuate the profits vs. health system we have now."

Small Business Day in D.C. is sponsored by American Booksellers Association, American Independent Business Alliance, Business Forward, Consumers Union, Employee Benefits Cooperative, Main Street Alliance, National Council of Asian American Businesses, National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce, New Voice of Business, Massachusetts Fishermen's Partnership, Small Business Majority and U.S. Public Interest Research Group.

Those interested in more information on The Tennessee Small Business Coalition or the Tennessee Health Care Campaign may visit www.tnsmallbusinesscoalition.org.