SMALL BUSINESS OWNERS FROM ILLINOIS, MAINE AND NEW JERSEY TRAVEL TO DC TUESDAY TO CONFRONT HEALTH INSURANCE EXECS

Main Street Alliance business leaders will join crowd of thousands to protest health insurers at AHIP conference, call on Congress to finish health reform right

Washington, DC – On March 9, three small business leaders from the Main StreetAlliance network will travel to Washington, DC to confront health insurance industry executives at the national AHIP conference and call on them to stop blocking health care reform. Business owners from Illinois, Maine and New Jersey will join a crowd of thousands hitting the streets to protest the health insurance industry’s criminal activities and demand that Congress finish the job and pass health care reform.

Dan Sherry, one of the participating business owners, was kicked off his insurance plan of many years after missing one payment during a hectic summer business season. High cholesterol was the insurance company’s justification for denying his coverage, even though Sherry had been healthy enough to run a marathon only months before. Eventually his wife and children were allowed back into the insurance plan, but Sherry has been unable to find health insurance for himself.

WHO:         Participating small business owners include:

·        Dan Sherry, owner of Kennedy’s Creative Awards in Waukegan, IL and The ID Store in Barrington, IL

·        Melanie Collins, owner of Melanie’s Child Care in Falmouth, ME

·        Odette Cohen, pediatrician and owner of Son Light Pediatrics in Willingboro, NJ

WHAT:      The small business owners, each with stories of exorbitant rate hikes, coverage denials based on pre-existing conditions or other insurance industry abuses will join a crowd of thousands to confront health insurance industry executives, gathered in DC for the national AHIP conference, for blocking health care reform.

All the necessary elements are on the table between the House and Senate bills and the President’s recently released proposal. Click here to download the Main Street Alliance’s new fact sheet summarizing key provisions worth fighting for and what small businesses stand to gain from the current proposals.
 

Sure enough, small business owners across the country from Maine to California have been getting hit with rate increases of up to 124 percent:

• A business owner from Belgrade, Montana reported a 13 percent rate increase.
• A business owner from Kittery, Maine reported a 23 percent rate increase.
• A business owner from Clinton, Iowa reported a 24 percent rate increase.
• A business owner from Richmond, Virginia reported a 42 percent rate increase.
• A business owner from Freehold, New Jersey reported a 60 percent rate increase.
• And a business owner from Bloomfield, New Jersey reported a 124 percent rate increase.

To share your experience with recent rate increases as a small business owner, click here to fill out the survey.

Contact:
Sam Blair, (603) 831-1835

PRESS RELEASE

SMALL BUSINESS OWNERS CONDEMN LATEST HEALTH INSURANCE RATE INCREASES, CALL FOR CONGRESS TO PASS REFORM

CONGRESSMAN BLUMENAUER, SMALL BUSINESS OWNERS FROM CA, IL, NJ, OR AND VA DECRY RATE HIKES RANGING FROM 20 TO 120 PERCENT

Washington, DC – The Main Street Alliance hosted a conference call today with Congressman Earl Blumenauer (OR-3) and small business owners from California, Illinois, New Jersey and Oregon focusing on recent rate increases pushed on small businesses by health insurers across the country. Participating business owners recounted rate increases ranging from 20 to over 120 percent and discussed the implications of these increases for their businesses.

“Americans are struggling with the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, yet the largest health insurance companies are making billions on the backs of small businesses,” Congressman Blumenauer said. “By raising rates, cutting care, and leaving behind almost 3 million Americans who had been enrolled in private health plans, insurance industry profits rose 56 percent. The numbers don’t add up. While big insurance made over $12 billion, small businesses have been forced to drop coverage, fire valued employees, or go bankrupt because they can’t pay the skyrocketing premiums. With Oregon unemployment hovering around 11 percent, small businesses need Congress to enact health insurance reform more than ever.”

The call came on the heels of a new HHS report released this morning highlighting proposed rate increases in the individual health insurance market in Connecticut, Maine, Michigan, Oregon, Rhode Island and Washington.

Kelly Conklin, co-owner of Foley-Waite Associates, an architectural woodworking business based in Bloomfield, New Jersey, recounted his disbelief when he opened his renewal letter from New Jersey insurer Health Net a week ago to find the company was applying a 124 percent increase to his small group premiums.

Laurie Pitman, owner of Golden Gate Helicopters in San Jose, California received a 25 percent rate increase for her small group policy from Anthem Blue Cross in November. “I asked my broker to give me some competitive quotes, and what did I get?” Pitman asked. “Forty-five pages of paper – all from Blue Cross and Kaiser. That’s not real choices. That’s not real competition. That’s not what small businesses need.”

Business owners Bob Hausheer, owner of Morning Glory Florist in Glenview, Illinois, Jim Houser, co-owner of Hawthorne Auto Clinic in Portland, Oregon and Brian Radford, owner of HK on the Bay in Virginia Beach, Virginia also spoke on the call.

The House Energy & Commerce Committee has announced that it will hold a hearing on February 24 to investigate Anthem Blue Cross’s proposal to increase premium rates by as much as 39 percent in the individual health insurance market in California.

The Main Street Alliance submitted a letter from business owners to Congressional Leadership today urging them to launch a broader investigation into small business rate increases nationwide and to redouble their efforts to enact comprehensive health reform.

The text of the letter is pasted below. A PDF copy is posted online at www.mainstreetalliance.org.

——– Letter from Main Street Alliance small business owners to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid about small business health insurance rate increases ———-

February 18, 2010

The Honorable Nancy Pelosi
Speaker
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515
 

The Honorable Harry Reid
Majority Leader
U.S. Senate
Washington, DC 20510
 

Dear Speaker Pelosi and Majority Leader Reid,

Recent headlines have been filled with the news that Anthem Blue Cross of California proposed, and then postponed, an increase of up to 39 percent in premiums for individual health insurance coverage. These rate hikes aren’t news to small businesses across the country who are already struggling to keep their doors open during the economic recession. Many employers whose health care costs were already surpassing 10 or even 15 percent of payroll costs are now receiving notices of premiums 20 to 40 percent higher than last year – one reported rate hike exceeded 120 percent.

These astronomical increases in premiums come at the same time insurance companies are reporting record-breaking profits to Wall Street. It was reported last week that the five largest U.S. health insurance companies made a combined profit of $12.2 billion in 2009, an increase of 56 percent from the previous year. They achieved these record profits in the midst of the recession as 2.7 million Americans who had been enrolled in private health plans the year before lost their insurance coverage. At the same time, health insurance companies were secretly laundering up to $20 million of these premium dollars through the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to fund advertising campaigns opposing reforms to make health care more accessible and affordable for small business owners and employees.

On behalf of thousands of small business owners across the country, the Main Street Alliance calls on Congress to hold public hearings at the earliest opportunity to investigate these outrageous increases in small group health insurance premiums and to hold insurance companies publicly accountable for their business practices. Further, we renew our call for Congress to stand with small businesses, not the health insurance industry and its lobbyists, and finish the job of enacting comprehensive health reform without further delay. The time has come for Congress to deliver on health care that works for small businesses, our employees, and our country.

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Contact:
Sam Blair, (603) 831-1835

MEDIA ADVISORY

HAMMERED BY HEALTH INSURANCE RATE INCREASES, SMALL BUSINESS OWNERS CALL ON CONGRESS TO ACT

THURSDAY CALL WITH CONGRESSMAN BLUMENAUER TO FEATURE BUSINESS OWNERS WITH RATE HIKES RANGING FROM 20 TO 120 PERCENT

Email info@mainstreetalliance.org with name and organization to receive call-in details

Washington, DC – On Thursday at 2pm ET, the Main Street Alliance will host a press conference call with Congressman Earl Blumenauer (OR-3) and small business owners from four states focusing on recent health insurance rate increases being pushed on small businesses across the country. Small business owners with recent rate increases ranging from 20 to 120 percent will share details of their stories, discuss the implications for their businesses and answer questions from the press.

The new attention to small business rate hikes comes as recent reports show the biggest health insurers made profits of $12.2 billion in 2009 (a 56 percent increase over 2008) while covering 2.7 million fewer customers. The House Energy & Commerce Committee has already announced that it will hold a hearing on February 24 to investigate Anthem Blue Cross’s proposal to increase premium rates by as much as 39 percent in the individual health insurance market in California. The Main Street Alliance will submit a letter from business owners to Congressional Leadership urging them to investigate small business rate increases nationwide and to redouble their efforts to enact comprehensive health reform.

What: Press conference call highlighting recent health insurance rate increases for small businesses ranging from 20 percent to 120 percent.

Who: Congressman Earl Blumenauer (OR-3) will be a featured speaker.
Small business owners with recent rate increases will speak, including:

• Kelly Conklin, Foley-Waite Associates, Bloomfield, NJ (124% increase by Health Net, notified last week)
• Laurie Pitman, Golden Gate Helicopters, San Jose, CA (25% increase from Anthem Blue Cross in November)
• Bob Hausheer, Morning Glory Florist, Glenview, IL (20% increase on individual policies in January)
• Jim Houser, Hawthorne Auto Clinic, Portland, OR

When: Thursday, February 18 – 2pm ET // 11am PT

Details: Email info@mainstreetalliance.org with name and organization to receive call-in details.

For Immediate Release: Contact Bob Keener, 617-610-6766, bobkeener@businessforsharedprosperity.org

Washington, DC, February 9, 2010 — As financial industry lobbyists try to kill the Consumer Financial Protection Agency (CFPA) in the Senate, hundreds of business leaders and small business owners nationwide are calling for a strong, independent watchdog. In a statement organized by Business for Shared Prosperity, they say the CFPA would help business, especially small businesses, which over the past 15 years have created two out of three net new jobs and spurred innovation – producing 13 times more patents per employee than large patenting firms.

In the statement, business leaders assert, "The financial crisis has demonstrated the need for a new independent federal agency to promote financial product safety and establish clear, enforceable rules of the road. Business owners and consumers need full and fair disclosure of the costs and risks of financial products and services… A Consumer Financial Protection Agency will expose unsafe products and services and encourage accountability and fair competition. It will help ensure we do not repeat the reckless practices we are paying dearly for today."
U.S. Women’s Chamber of Commerce CEO Margot Dorfman, American Business Leaders for Financial Reform Chairman Tim Duncan, American Made Alliance Founder Wendy Rosen, Main Street Alliance National Network Director Sam Blair, Atlanta Women in Business Founder Lya Sorano, American Income Life Insurance CEO Roger Smith, KCI Technologies Chairman Emeritus Jack Kinstlinger and Seventh Generation Executive Chairman Jeffrey Hollender have signed the statement along with CEOs and small business owners from Alaska to Florida, Connecticut to California, Washington State to Washington DC.

U.S. Women’s Chamber of Commerce CEO Margot Dorfman said, "The extraordinary abuse of small businesses and everyday Americans by a financial industry that has taken unwarranted profits through predatory practices must be stopped. It is time for our political leaders to act to support the financial protection and wellbeing of all Americans."

"Special interests lobbying against the proposed Consumer Financial Protection Agency don’t speak for the business community," said Small Business Owner Lew Prince, CEO of Vintage Vinyl in St. Louis. "Politicians love to point out that most new jobs are created by small business. They should listen to the business owners who didn’t wreck the economy and want real reform to prevent a repeat."

"Honest and affordable credit is fundamental to business success and nurturing the innovation needed to keep the U.S. competitive in the world economy," said Alan Gregerman, President of Venture Works, Silver Spring, MD. "A lack of appropriate regulation has hurt America and American businesses. We can and must do better."

Tim Duncan, Chairman of American Business Leaders for Financial Reform, whose members include senior financial executives, said, "Passage of the CFPA will help the financial services industry get back to innovating in ways that will truly benefit consumers, the economy and the industry itself. We need to consider the long-term growth of financial services and avoid the mindset that can’t see beyond the next quarter’s results."

Atlanta Women in Business Founder Lya Sorano said, "It has long amazed me that we have recourse avenues for failed car brakes and defective baby cribs, but have had to muddle through reams of fine print in incomprehensible disclosure statements to try and find out whether a new credit offer is good for us or not."

"Small businesses have borne the brunt of this crisis, and Wall Street has gone back to fiddling – and handing out massive bonuses – while the Main Street economy keeps burning," said Brian Radford, Owner of HK on the Bay in Virginia Beach and a leader with the Virginia Main Street Alliance. "Wall Street dug the ground right out from under us, and they’ll do it again if we let them. That’s why we need a Consumer Financial Protection Agency to go to bat for consumers, including small businesses and the customers we rely on."

A survey of more than 1,200 small business owners from 13 states by the Main Street Alliance found that 67 percent of respondents support the creation of a Consumer Financial Protection Agency.

"It’s high time we did something to rein in lenders that take advantage of unsuspecting borrowers with ‘fine-print’ clauses," said Jon Tepper, President of J. Tepper Group, a Mass.-based business consulting firm. "If we don’t act now, banks and mortgage companies will be back to ‘business as usual,’ leading to another financial disaster."

Mark Kellenbeck, COO of Oregon-based Cascade Management, which specializes in real estate management, said, "The American free market requires fairness and integrity for it to thrive. The CFPA will bring long overdue protections to the market, which will level the playing field and allow true competition to serve the American public once again."

For the full statement and a growing list of signers: www.businessforsharedprosperity.org/Financial%20Reform

Statement Supporting Consumer Financial Protection Agency

We, the undersigned business owners, executives and investors, support the creation of a strong Consumer Financial Protection Agency (CFPA). This will help restore consumer confidence in the economy and benefit business, especially small businesses, which create most of the nation’s new jobs. Small business owners often rely on credit from a variety of sources, including use of personal credit cards and home equity loans, to start, run and expand their businesses.

The financial crisis has demonstrated the need for a new independent federal agency to promote financial product safety and establish clear, enforceable rules of the road. Business owners and consumers need full and fair disclosure of the costs and risks of financial products and services.

Those pushing misleading products with hidden risks undercut lenders offering sound mortgages and other credit. Reckless credit practices fueled the economic crisis that has driven businesses into bankruptcy and homes into foreclosure, destroyed jobs and wealth, and severely undermined our communities and economic prospects. Many businesses that survived the initial meltdown are being hurt by credit cuts and denials, abrupt interest rate and fee hikes, and other financial practices.

A Consumer Financial Protection Agency will expose unsafe products and services and encourage accountability and fair competition. It will help ensure we do not repeat the reckless practices we are paying dearly for today. Consumers, businesses and our economy will be better off with the establishment of a strong CFPA.

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For Immediate Release: January 28, 2010
Contact: Jason Collette, (314) 517-5070
 

REPORT: MAIN STREET BUSINESSES SUPPORT WALL STREET REFORMS
Survey finds small business owners support financial reforms, consumer protection agency

** Small business owners available for comment **

** Report available online at www.mainstreetalliance.org/publications **

Washington, DC – Today, the Main Street Alliance released a new report highlighting impacts of the financial crisis on small businesses and a snapshot of Main Street business owners’ views on financial reform. Main Street Policy Pulse: Small Business Views on Financial Reform is based on a survey of more than 1,200 small business owners from 13 states. The survey found decisive support among Main Street small businesses for strong financial reforms, including the creation of a consumer financial protection agency.

Small business owners from MSA partner coalitions in a dozen states organized state and local release activities. Along with the national report, the Alliance released “state snapshots” featuring the state results for the following states: Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Maine, Montana, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Virginia and Washington.

“While the big banks have been busy converting their massive bailouts into massive bonuses, small businesses have really been suffering,” said Brian Radford, owner of HK on the Bay in Virginia Beach and a leader with the Virginia Main Street Alliance. “We need financial reform with a strong consumer protection agency to put the economy back on solid ground – and make sure Wall Street can’t pull the rug out from under us again.”

Key national findings from the survey include:

• Since June 2008, more than two in five respondents (41 percent) reported using personal savings or credit cards for expenses normally covered with external loans or business credit cards. Nearly a third (32 percent) saw their business credit card terms deteriorate.
• Over three quarters of respondents (77 percent) did not believe enough steps have been taken to shield small businesses from another Wall Street crisis.
• By a margin of nearly 4 to 1 (69 percent to 18 percent), responding small business owners supported passage of strong financial reforms over cautions against too much government involvement.
• By a margin of over 5 to 1 (67 percent to 12 percent), responding business owners supported creation of a consumer financial protection agency.

“We need a consumer financial protection agency to ensure that small businesses receive fair and transparent access to loans,” said Jacqueline Germany, owner of Nina’s Nuances Interior Design, Inc in Montclair, New Jersey. “It makes no sense that the banks received these monstrous bonuses, but small businesses like mine are seeing our credit pulled back.”

Small businesses, key to job creation strategies and economic recovery, could prove a pivotal voice in an unfolding debate where the DC-based business lobby has sided with the country’s biggest banks in opposing financial reforms even as small businesses continue to pay the price – in lost business and frozen credit – for the speculative Wall Street practices that brought on the financial crisis.

The House of Representatives passed a financial reform bill, HR 4173, the “Wall Street and Consumer Protection Act of 2009,” in December. The Senate Banking Committee is readying a bill for markup in the coming weeks.

The Main Street Policy Pulse: Small Business Views on Financial Reform national summary report and “state snapshot” fact sheets are available online at: www.mainstreetalliance.org/publications.

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