• Micro-Business Owners Unprepared For Retirement,
  NASE Survey Finds
• Senate Approves FDA Drug Plan
• Hospitals Involved In War Of Words

Micro-Business Owners Unprepared For Retirement, NASE Survey Finds

The National Association for the Self-Employed (NASE) is releasing the results of a national survey showing that a large majority of owners and employees of America’s micro-businesses do not have access to retirement plans and are financially unprepared for retirement. More than 3,000 owners of companies with 10 or fewer employees participated in the survey. The survey found that an overwhelming percentage of the nation’s micro-businesses – 80% – do not offer retirement plans of any type for either owners or employees. The greatest barrier, reported by 62 percent of respondents, is the cost of administering and contributing to a retirement plan. More than one-third of micro-business owners acknowledged they were not saving for retirement at all. “These findings show us that this segment of America’s business community – which represents about 20 million businesses – is contributing mightily to the economy, but not to the future of its own people,” said Kristie Darien, executive director of the NASE legislative office. “Micro-business owners and the self-employed face so many challenges, including soaring health care costs, and as a result retirement planning is shadowed by those more immediate needs.” Of the respondents who do provide a retirement savings plan, more than half shoulder the administrative duties themselves. This arrangement places the responsibility of choosing and administering the plan on the business owner, who often is working long hours to maintain and grow the business. The survey also found that the gap between what many business owners say they will need for retirement and what they actually have saved is considerable – nearly 13 percent have no savings at all, and 26 percent have less than $50,000 saved. However, nearly 29 percent believe they will need at least $1 million in savings before they can retire. “This gap is striking,” said Darien. “It shows how retirement often takes a back seat to other employee benefits such as health care and incremental wage increases, often at the risk of the financial security of the business owner who has invested so much time and energy in nurturing the enterprise.” For complete survey results visit the NASE Advocacy site at http://advocacy.nase.org/advocacy_efforts.asp and look under “NASE Research.”

Senate Approves FDA Drug Plan After a tangle of meetings and changes, the drug safety programs of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) are one step closer to a proposed overhaul after the passage of a Senate plan. A main component of the FDA Revitalization Act provides funding for the agency by re-approving the fees it charges drug companies to review their products. Senator Edward Kennedy, D-Mass, introduced the bill which he says will expand access and safety provisions. “It greatly improves the way the FDA oversees the safety of the drugs,” Kennedy said. “It recognizes that when patients are in danger, the FDA should not have to wait to get legal opinions to decide how to protect health. It should be able to act immediately, and our bill gives it that authority.” Democratic House lawmaker and Energy and Commerce Chairman John Dingell of Michigan criticized the current state of drug safety measures and released plans to introduce his own legislation this summer. Other amendments to the proposed bill dealt with drug importation regulations and increased fines against drug companies who are not compliant with safety measures. To read about the FDA Revitalization Act, visit the Library of Congress at http://thomas.loc.gov/.   Hospitals Involved In War Of Words   Hospital advocacy groups are disputing a recent study which says that the uninsured pay the highest fees for services. The groups claim that regulations have been altered in the past few years to offer lower fees to uninsured patients. A recently released Johns Hopkins University research report found that patients who paid for their own care were charged 2.5 times more than enrollees of private insurance and three times more than Medicare patients. The study used data from 2004. The NASE supports efforts to improve our health care system by making it easier for individuals to attain and understand health coverage. We also support legislation that would increase transparency because it is necessary for individuals, families and business owners to receive accurate information on both price and quality of service providers. To read about the NASE’s other legislative priorities in health care, visit http://advocacy.nase.org/issue_briefs/2007/ImprovingHealthCare.asp. Voice Of Change - Write To Congress Washington may seem far away but you can have an impact, according to NASE executive director of the legislative office Kristie Darien. If gas prices are affecting your business, write to your Member of Congress. Health care costs high? Worried about tax gap proposals? Your Member of Congress can do something about it. Keep your letters short and to the point, and only right about one issue per letter. It’s better for the Congressperson to get three letters from you in one day, than for your concerns to be dismissed because your letter covers too much ground. To find your Member of Congress, visit the NASE Advocacy page at http://advocacy.nase.org/ and search by zip code.