Nayab Siddiqui, president of a small Columbia systems and software company, was pleased when he heard the O?Malley-Brown campaign for governor had some plans to ease his firms swelling health insurance costs that have nearly quadrupled in the last decade.
Siddiqui led a panel of eight small-business owners that sat around a work table in an Ellicott City store talking to Mayor Martin O?Malley and his running mate, Del. Anthony Brown, about problems with health insurance. “Every 15 days we have to meet a payroll,” Siddiqui said.
“There?s no magic answer,” O?Malley said, but “the inability to control our [health care] costs is impacting their bottom line.”
O?Malley proposed three options as partial solution to a complex problem.
» Establish a statewide health insurance purchasing pool. This would allow small business to combine their resources to get reduced rates. O?Malley said an existing state plan to provide small business with access to health insurance is not working.
» Create a statewide reinsurance fund for high-risk employees, the kind of workers with health problems that often increase premiums.
» Explore tax-cutting solutions to help employers pay for health care. “We?re going to search for compromises” with the legislature, O?Malley said.
Easing the burdens on employers is important because the Kaiser Family Foundation has found that 61 percent of Marylanders get their insurance from their employer.
Siddiqui begged off when asked whether he was an O?Malley supporter, saying people in business can?t afford to choose sides. “I like Mr. O?Malley, I like Mr. Ehrlich,” he said.
