These Women-Owned Businesses Want To Help Trump With Healthcare Reform

One of President Trump’s multiple campaign promises included destroying the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, as soon as he got into office. Well, the Obamacare repeal effort has so far stalled, with some GOP politicians now openly calling for the law to be fixed, not repealed.

And if President Trump chooses to go in that direction, women-owned small businesses are ready and willing to help make the president’s job just a tad bit easier. A group of women-owned businesses are asking Trump to amend his plans for health care coverage with them in mind.

A recent survey by the Chicago-based Women’s Business Development Center surveyed 147 women-certified businesses in the midwest. Overall, a majority of respondents said they wanted to work with the White House to make healthcare reform work better for small businesses.

The surveyed employers do all have one thing in common: they are trying their hardest to provide for their employees, even if they can’t afford to offer health insurance right now.

According to the survey results, 53% of employers with less than 50 workers offered health insurance, compared to 96% of companies with 100 or more employees. A majority of respondents also said that high costs were the biggest barrier to offering coverage. The majority also said they supported making changes to the existing law.

Obamacare has been in full throttle for the past seven years, but more and more business owners are upset with its high premium costs and are unable to pay for even basic plans for their employees.

The Affordable Care Act insures more than 20 million people nationwide, and even though President Trump has made promises to keep certain rules and regulations of the existing act, nothing is set in stone. So it is only natural that doctors and patients alike are anxiously waiting to figure out what is going to happen next with healthcare reform.

However, women business owners in particular seem to prioritize having quality employee healthcare coverage. For them, providing for their employees is pivotal to the sustainability of their business and the culture for their workers.

“Without affordable access to health care, that could discourage the formation of businesses, which would have a significant impact on our economy,” explained Emilia DiMenco, president and CEO of the Women’s Business Development Center (WBDC), in a statement.

Smaller businesses make up the majority of the U.S. workforce, as 99.7% of businesses nationwide have fewer than 500 employees. This equates to 28 million small businesses, not to mention the 22 million “businesses” run by self-employed workers with no additional payroll.

Nationwide, women are becoming even more prevalent in the businesses world. In the past decade, the number of women-owned businesses has increased 10%, with a revenue growth of over 63%.

For now, business owners are trying their hardest to gain President Trump’s attention, and many are willing to help his administration amend the current policies so they work better for small businesses.

“If the new ideas percolating in Congress are going to have any success, we need to be looking at small businesses and making them somewhat of a focal point. They really are the economic engines of our economy,” said Barbara Otto, the CEO of Health and Disability Advocate.