Survey: Ohio small businesses rank health care as top concern

According to results from a new survey by Small Business Majority,  affordability of offering health insurance is the top concern of Ohio small business owners (Source:   “Health insurance affordability top concern for small businesses,” Dayton Business Journal, April 21, 2009).

The health care advocacy group questioned in December the owners of 300 small businesses in Ohio and concluded that the majority agreed that health reform was necessary to improve the economy and health care costs are a significant barrier to entrepreneurship. The survey (pdf, 33 pages) found that 77 percent of Ohio businesses that did not offer health insurance to their employees reported that they could not afford to do so.

As Steve Millard of the Cleveland-based Council for Smaller Enterprises put it, “Small business owners are facing many challenges in today’s economy,” said “Health insurance coverage is one of their most urgent and pressing concerns.”