Health insurance is an important part of the everyday operation of Pennsylvania’s businesses. For generations, employers have supplied insurance to employees when able — and not because a union forced the company to do so. Companies, especially in a recession, walk a fine line between profitability and providing perks to employees in the form of health insurance.
In the Commonwealth, research shows just 10 percent of Pennsylvanians lack health insurance. In fact, the 2008 Pennsylvania Insurance Department Health Insurance Survey found that 61 percent of the population has private health insurance, while the Erie region has one of the lowest percentages of uninsured individuals in the state, around 8-percent uninsured.
When the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) was being discussed, many business owners asked, “Why is Obamacare necessary?” They argued then — and still do today — that PPACA is far-reaching legislation that further extends the arm of the federal government into the pockets and lives of businesses and individuals.
Read more in the April 2011 edition of the Business Magazine.
