The Small Business Coalition for Affordable Healthcare, which includes the American Rental Association (ARA) as one of more than 100 associations and companies as members, placed an ad last week in The Hill, a congressional newspaper published daily when congress is in session, asking whether Congress is listening to the concerns of small businesses when addressing health care issues.

 

“Talking and acting are two different things,” the ad says. “One thing is clear: Small businesses need a competitive marketplace where private, quality health care is available and affordable. Congress, please listen to us: Reform must help, not harm our nation’s job creators.” To see the ad, click here. 

  

The ad defines “reform” as more choice, lower costs and real competition of private health insurance plans as well as reducing costs and wasteful spending with policies that preserve and produce jobs.

 

“ARA realizes the importance of this issue and how critical it is to the individuals and businesses in our industry. Due to the urgency being placed on health care legislation by the U.S. Congress, all ARA members are asked to follow our messages on the status of proposals and to watch your e-mail messages for activating your grassroots response to your senators and representatives at the most critical time,” says Christine Wehrman, ARA’s executive vice president and CEO.

 

“This ad is another step that ARA and the other members of the Small Business Coalition for Affordable Healthcare have taken to remind Congress that the voice of small business matters in the health care reform debate,” says John McClelland, ARA’s vice president of government affairs.

 

“We continue to have serious concerns about the inclusion of a public plan option because we have always advocated a position calling for our members to have more access and more choice to quality health care. We believe a public plan option will ultimately eliminate that choice,” he says.

 

“We ask that members continue to follow RentalPulse for news on this issue and to monitor e-mail for calls to action from ARA. We do plan to ask members to write letters to their representatives and senators at the appropriate time,” he says.