Tags: 2009-small-business-report, american-small-business, cea-small-business-report, chair-cea, christina-romer, christina-romer-cea, council-of-economic-advisers, linkedin-answers, obama-health-care, obama-health-care-reform, obama-small-business, president-barack-obama, president-obama-healthcare, Reid Hoffman, us-small-business

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1. Jeff Taylor July 25th, 2009

   This is a big, big deal for LinkedIn. Congratulations to Reid and the team. This is quintessentially how the LinkedIn community can have a say in public policy and how LinkedIn itself can be a resource to public policy leaders and opinion makers on the federal and state levels. The next step should be to become a similar resource to the majority and minority on Capitol Hill; in both the Senate and House.

   Again, Congratulations! Jeff

2. Dave Gowel July 27th, 2009

   I’m a small business owner / leader who has read the CEA report (and watched the President’s video). If this reform becomes a reality, it seems it would allow businesses like mine to substantially increase what we can offer our current and prospective team members. With the consideration for the provision of healthcare to my employees being a major issue affecting my day-to-day operations, it would be great to have some reform to ease this burden. I’m very interested to listen to Christina’s comments on Wednesday to answer many of the questions / comments being posted to the question she posed. Thanks to LinkedIn for stimulating this discussion.

   Dave Gowel
   President & CEO, Clearly Creative

3. Rudy Kiste July 27th, 2009

   The most important issues for businesses big and small is the ability to attract, recruit and retain a diverse skill set of employees. Key aspects faced by all employers are that a workforce requires continuing education, healthcare and immigration considerations to maintain competitive in their respective marketplaces and globally. The ability to retain a free market system with applicable and equitable tort and financing reforms are key drivers that business and government must address. Whether your a medical professional or business person, we all have competencies that are mutually exclusive. Those differences should be embraced and closely looked at by the administration in its healthcare reforms.

4. EJ Gall July 28th, 2009

   As a small business owner, my biggest health care issue is if I can’t afford health care for my employees what makes you think you can afford health care for my employees and 12 million illegals when government spending outweighs revenue even without this insane entitlement? Taxing me more will just result in another closed business, more unemployed and less revenue for you.

   Small businesses are already dying faster than you can imagine out here due to over taxation and over regulation. On paper I am making money; however, I am not getting paid by other small business owners because they have negative cash flow. If I can’t get paid, I will have to stop paying my bills and I will take about 5-10 other local businesses down with me.

5. Al Timm July 28th, 2009

   I have been in the ins./invstment profession over 40 years now and these proposals in congress with Obamacare is the worst and closest to Social Care I have seen come out of Washington yet!!!
   Do we need reform?…we certainly do, BUT NOT at the expense of limiting service, surgeries, medication, rationing treatment for our seniors, etc., etc..,providing better medical care to members of Congress…why?, paying medical care for illegals at the expense of the taxpayer…Why?…We are not only losing the current landscape of our freedom of choice when it comes to Medical Care, we are losing or taking away the opportunity of the American Know How in improving the current system to better itself from within!! It is high time for that! This is America! It is not and should not be a cradle to grave provider for the masses! Let Freedom go forth…Stop the Social Agenda of the Washington know it alls! Let them have the SAME Plan!!! Stop putting the burden on the small businesses! Let the TRUTH go forth…READ the 1000+ pages before any vote is taken!!

6. EMSmith July 29th, 2009

   We need to find a way to reward small business. Taxes need to be reduced dramatically through out our society. Rewarding small business leaders by continually asking for input on legislative issues and then supporting them on the input.

7. kimberlene July 30th, 2009

   To your point EMSmith, I would like to see an approach that attacks the rising cost of care versus just supplementing or adding another layer of insurance coverage. As an HR Manager for a small to mid size business, we were faced with significant increases because of one or two individuals with some “significant” illness. More incentives for promoting a healthy work place, offering health education, leveraging consumer driven health plans and even education around how to use your benefits would help reduce the cost of care overall, thus reducing the the cost of insurance (in theory). Let’s face it, we are an unhealthy nation. We have very poor diets, we do not exercise and are stressed by our pace.

   I agree with Al Timm and to Rudy Kiste’s point, my question is that if all we offer as small business is the low cost government insurance plan riddled with complicated rules and rationed care, will I really be able to attract top flight talent? Probably not…

   Where can I get my hands on this 1,000 +page document anyhow… The media is bias in it’s reporting and I want the whole story…

8. Mary MacIntyre August 3rd, 2009

   Although I am 100% in favor of National Health Care, I am deeply concerned about a botched up system that limits dramatically what we can offer. As a previous health insurance professional, I am convinced that the plans being discussed will help many small businesses provide far better coverage.

   Paying for health care will be far easier than bailing out large corporations, including insurance companies, much less expensive than paying for bombs and our extensive military complex as just a few examples.

   Cutting medicare is punishing those who are least capable of earning extra income or affording additional insurance.

   Don’t worry insurance companies: you will develop new “supplemental” programs, and “gap” fillers products.

   Also remember many small business owners go without any insurance because they still can’t afford insurance.

   Please contact your representatives with better ideas for healtcare than are being proposed. Mary MacIntyre http://www.lifetipsdaily.com

9. John Hart August 4th, 2009

   Reid, thanks for the blog, keep them coming. As for the ObamaCare program, I am very concerned anytime the gov’t wants to help. I pay too much for healhcare, but it is still available for small business, what the gov’t should be doning is fixing the programs they already have, Medicare, Social Security, USPS, and cash for clunckers.

10. Christian August 8th, 2009

    It worries me any time that the government wants to fix anything. The solution is ultimately worse than the problem. I’m with John, we’re already throwing billions into the programs he listed. If the Government can’t fix what it already has, why can we trust them with more?

11. ahlwp August 8th, 2009

    Now let’s do the same and allow small business owners to submit questions to the Republican side. Or, submit the same questions and see their response.

    Even better, a LinkedIn debate.

12. Michael H Ballard August 14th, 2009

    There are many great reasons to have health care stay as is, a blended arrangement or become more like what we have in Canada. The US due to size (approx 10 times larger) has deeper pockets that allow for some what I call uber specialists we’ll not see in Canada. You also have some amazing Mind Body life skills clinics that are a large source of assistance to those with some chronic illness (reduce rate of illness issues (-19%) that are a large savings (+30%) to the insurer. Not available to us in Canada unless we search long and hard and have to go south of the border to find.

    How ever having survived two bouts of cancer, a serious ten year battle with a chronic illness, and had a daughter (all good now) with a serious brain tumour I know for a fact my car and hers was world class. Plus all done in a very timely fashion. My surgical teams both in Halifax NS (east coast province – you call them states) and Toronto ON (central prov, in Canada north of New York and bordering Michigan) was with a team of professionals who regularly did research with your best and brightest along side some of Europe’s finest medical minds.

    So beware of the doom and gloomers… Up here in the north, yes the system is not perfect. However the worth to me of any society is how they treat the most vulnerable. I appreciate our system as it attempts to include all citizens. In fact we’ve had to upgrade our health cards due to a black market in people selling them.

    See this page from some background.
    http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/eppp-archive/100/201/300/cdn_medical_association/cmaj/vol-154/1412.htm

    However despite this I think it’s great system. Despite those health issues in my teens, 20′2 and early 30’s my health has been excellent since due in no small part to world class care.

    Be well. Travel safe.

    Michael

13. Web Feet Integrated Marketing » Blog Archive » LinkedIn PR Visits the White House September 17th, 2009

    [...] that we do with the White House. We don’t have anything to announce at this time, but the last time we worked with the White House, Obama presented his healthcare reform proposal during a weekly address and asked small business [...]

14. The LinkedIn Blog » Blog Archive The White House asks: What is the biggest health care problem in your state? « October 6th, 2009

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