Working on The Impact Special Report: Health care reform & small businesses

On the last day of our eastern & central Washington tour, we visited a small business in Spokane. Janine Vaughn owns Revival Lighting – a specialty lighting store with ten employees. Janine has provided insurance to her workers since she started the company with two partners nearly 12 years ago. Every December she says she spends 40 hours researching insurance plans in an effort to provide the best coverage at the lowest cost, but she’s consistently watched her rates increase and benefits decrease. Right now, she spends about $23,000 per year to insure her 10 workers.

We talk with Janine about how the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act addresses concerns of small businesses, specifically tax credits and the yet-to-be-launched small business insurance exchange. You’ll hear how she envisions it impacting her business and where she thinks the law falls short.

We’re heading back from Spokane today, and next week, we’ll be focusing on Medicare, talking with AARP experts and seniors concerned about how their coverage will and could change. I’ll continue posting blogs about what I learn in my travels. You can watch for The Impact special report on health care reform in September on TVW.

Tags: health care reform, The Impact