• Number Of Uninsured Americans Reaches 46.6 Million
• NASE Calls On Congress To Pass Health IT Legislation In Wake of Executive Order
• Focus: Teen Entrepreneurs
• Women-Owned Businesses Still Growing

Number Of Uninsured Americans Reaches 46.6 Million

The number of Americans living without health coverage rose yet again in 2005 to 46.6 million, an increase of almost 16 percent over the previous year. “The number of uninsured keeps rising, yet we can’t get significant public policy to address the issues of cost and availability passed in Washington,” said Kristie Darien, executive director of the NASE’s legislative office. The NASE advocates for consumer-directed health policy changes that give more options to micro-business owners and put more control of health decisions in their hands. The association continues to fight for the elimination of the self-employment tax on health insurance costs and supports health care tax credits, health savings accounts and small-business health plans. Until these legislative changes can take effect, the NASE launched the Your Health, Your Choice initiative to provide practical help to the micro-business community. It is designed to educate and empower self-employed individuals and micro-business owners to take control over their own health care. The Your Health, Your Choice program features a comprehensive guidebook and new Web site --- www.MicroBusinessHealth.com -- available to everyone with an interest in controlling soaring health care costs. Designed with the self-employed individual or micro-business owner in mind, these resources are free and contain valuable information to benefit anyone looking to assess their own health care needs, including tips for choosing the right health plan, tips on keeping health care costs down and tips on health and wellness programs. NASE Calls On Congress To Pass Health IT Legislation In Wake of Executive Order With time running short in the 109th session of Congress, the NASE urges both chambers of Congress to agree on health information technology (IT) bill language and pass meaningful legislation by the end of the year. The NASE applauds the efforts of President George W. Bush to make the health care system more efficient and transparent by issuing an executive order on the subject in August. “The NASE supports a secure national electronic patient record system as an efficient and cost effective step forward,” said Kristie Darien, executive director of the NASE legislative offices. “We would like to see a more transparent health care system, where micro-business owners and the self-employed are able to understand health care products and services in simple terms, and make educated choices.” House and Senate negotiators will attempt to reconcile any differences between versions of health IT legislation passed earlier this Congress. The Senate passed S. 1418 last November and the House passed H.R. 4157 in July. Both provisions would legislate the position of National Coordinator for Health Information Technology in the Department of Health and Human Services and establish a national interoperable electronic patient records system for both the private and public health care sectors. While the House and Senate works on a compromise bill for the entire country, President Bush’s executive order addresses the issue for several government departments. It calls for health IT advances and price transparency of goods and services provided by health care professionals at federal agencies that oversee Medicare, federal employee health benefits, and veteran health benefits. “President Bush’s executive order makes important progress in health care programs overseen by the federal government,” said Darien. “Now Congress needs to follow his lead and pass health IT legislation by the end of the year to make it the law of the land.” Until meaningful changes to the health care system can be achieved by Congress, the NASE has developed practical help for the micro-business community. The Your Health, Your Choice initiative is designed to educate and empower self-employed individuals and micro-business owners to take control over their own health care. For more information on the NASE’s legislative priorities, visit http://advocacy.NASE.org. To learn more about the Your Health, Your Choice initiative, visit www.MicroBusinessHealth.com. Focus: Teen Entrepreneurs This year’s back-to-school season brought with it a lot of focus on the next generation of entrepreneurs and small-business owners. The U.S. Small Business Administration launched a new Web site geared toward teens, and the NASE partnered with hundreds of other groups in an effort called EntrepreneurshipWeek USA. Both of these come on the heels of the NASE announcing the winners of its scholarship program. The Mind Your Own Business teen Web site www.mindyourownbiz.org is a joint venture between the SBA and JA Worldwide (also known as Junior Achievement). The site boasts a student activities guide, a volunteer guide, and an assessment tool -- Start it, Grow it, Own it! -- that serves as a companion tool to the student activities and volunteer guides. EntrepreneurshipWeek USA is scheduled for February 24 – March 3, 2007. The Week is an effort to celebrate the power of entrepreneurship and ignite the nation’s consciousness around the importance of being entrepreneurial. Read about the events planned so far at www.EntrepreneurshipWeekUSA.com. The NASE celebrated 20 young scholars this year with $4,000 scholarships towards college costs as part of the NASE Scholarship Program. One student, Dustin Devenport, received a scholarship valued at up to $24,000 as the NASE Future Entrepreneur. Dustin runs his business DDD British White Farm in Dexter, N.M. This business breeds and raises registered British White cattle. To read more about the NASE Scholarship Program recipients, visit www.NASE.org. Women-Owned Businesses Still Growing A recent study by the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Office of Advocacy found a dramatic increase in the number of women-owned businesses in the United States. Women in Business: A Demographic Review of Women’s Business Ownership determined that women-owned businesses grew by 19.8 percent in the five years between 1997 and 2002. The average rate of growth for all U.S. firms during that time was seven percent. The study found that in 2002, women owned 6.5 million or 28.2 percent of nonfarm U.S. businesses. Of these women-owned firms, over 14 percent had employees, providing jobs to 7.1 million people and generating $173.7 billion in annual payroll. Those figures account for 6.5 percent of total employment and 4.2 percent of total receipts in the U.S. economy. The study also found that over 84 percent of all women-owned employer firms had ten or fewer employees in 2002. Of all women-owned firms with employees, these very small firms accounted for 29 percent of total business receipts, employed nearly 27 percent of workers, and paid more than 26 percent of total payroll. Of all women business owners in 2002, 85.95 percent were Caucasian, 8.43 percent African American, 8.33 percent Hispanic, 5.25 percent Asian, 1.23 percent American Indian or Alaska native, and 0.18 percent Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander. In both 1997 and 2002, the largest industries to contribute to women-owned business receipts were in wholesale and retail trade and manufacturing. However, the 2002 data also shows that professional, scientific and technical services are showing significant growth, as well as in the areas of health care and social assistance. Almost 40 percent of NASE Members are women-owned businesses, and the NASE has developed a special-interest Web site with content designed especially for them. It offers real-life business stories, profiles of successful women entrepreneurs, and advice on how to deal with the challenges faced by a women-owned business. Please visit the Women’s Resource Center at http://women.NASE.org to see some of the ways that the NASE can help your woman-owned small business. A full copy of the study can be found at http://www.sba.gov/advo/research/rs280tot.pdf.