7am News, Sports and Obits

Latest WGIL news
Click to play or
Right click and "Save Target As" to download
Click for Galesburg, Illinois Forecast
Home - Cancellations - Community Events - Contact Us - Mornings - News - Obituaries - Pictures - Programs - Special Events Audio - Sports - Weather
Insurance Requirement Could Hurt Illinois Businesses
New research by the employers' interest group, the National Federation of Independent Business, says that requiring small businesses to help their employees with medical coverage may be hazardous to their health - the business' health, that is.

Kim Maisch, Illinois director of the National Federation of Independent Business, says her constituents want to keep both their employees and their businesses healthy.

"Small business owners want to provide health insurance to their employees," Maisch said, "because, of course, that's how they get health insurance. It's not a matter of not wanting to provide health insurance; it's really a matter of cost. Let's find a way to reduce costs, so that more small business owners can get involved, provide health insurance, provide health insurance for their employees."

Maisch points to self-insuring companies such as Caterpillar in suggesting a federal pool in which people could be part of a 300,000 person group.

Researcher Michael Chow says a federal mandate would force the state's gross domestic product to shrink by over $11 billion between now and 2013.
03 07 09 by Newsroom
News management powered by Xpression News

Click here for the WGIL News Archive

Click here for national news

The following provision applies to all visitors (which shall include persons and representatives of legal entities, whether such representatives are persons or digital engines of a kind that crawls, indexes, scrapes, copies, stores or transmits digital content). By accessing this Web site or digital service, you specifically acknowledge and agree that: (i) Associated Press text, photo, graphic, audio and/or video material shall not be published, broadcast, rewritten for broadcast or publication or redistributed directly or indirectly in any medium; (ii) No Associated Press materials nor any portion thereof may be stored in a computer except for personal and non-commercial use; (iii) The Associated Press will not be held liable for any delays, inaccuracies, errors or omissions therefrom or in the transmission or delivery of all or any part thereof or for any damages arising from any of the foregoing; (iv) The Associated Press is an intended third party beneficiary of these terms and conditions and it may exercise all rights and remedies available to it; and (v) The Associated Press reserves the right to audit possible unauthorized commercial use of AP materials or any portion thereof at any time.