Friday, July 23
Over the past few months, we have received feedback from COSE members regarding the Health Care Reform Gameplan that was delivered as part of the May COSE Update magazine. Because some of the feedback and questions we have received pertain to the tone that was used in this Gameplan, we wanted to take a moment to provide an explanation around the language or phrases that were used and also about the political vs. non-political nature of this piece.
In some instances, we had to include phrases such as "may be able to" and "may be eligible" because of the manner and scope of the law, not from a lack of knowledge or experience in working to influence the development of the legislation. While the law itself was over 2,000 pages, it left many provisions unclear and undefined. As a result, we were not sure how many of these factors would develop in the coming years and wanted to be transparent about that.
For example, in the "Small Business Tax Credit" section, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is working with the IRS to release regulations and guidelines on implementation and examples. So far to date, that 5-page portion of the new law has resulted in over 6,000 words (or about 20-pages) of detail in the last two months alone. This is in addition to over 1,500 words (or about 4 pages) of regulations released previously by the HHS. We expect every section of the new law to require additional regulations and guidelines such as these and we will continue to make sure that small business has their voice heard as they are drafted.
Because the legislation is now law, the Gameplan was designed to be a beginner's guide to health care reform, not to discuss the political aspects of it. COSE expressed its concerns with the bill before it became law. Now that it is law, our efforts are focused on educating small businesses about it and doing everything we can to protect small business as its being implemented. To this point, COSE is committed to working with legislators and agencies over the coming months and years to ensure that the voice of small business is heard and to advocate on your behalf.
In fact, we have had over a dozen COSE members in Washington DC this summer to push for changes to the health care reform and other laws. While it is unlikely that the changes to the health care law will happen before the end of the year, we are working with Congress to implement true reform in the coming years.
If you are interested in getting involved and sharing your opinion and experience, please contact us to learn more about these involvement opportunities. For example, COSE has an Advocacy Committee (open to all COSE members) that meets every other month. The next meeting is August 13 from 8 a.m. until 10 a.m. at the COSE offices. In addition, we have a bi-weekly email for members interested in small business advocacy, which highlights meetings, events, and other on-going information on items that could impact our members. If you are interested, please sign up HERE.
We've appreciated the feedback on the Health Care Reform "Gameplan" and hope to include further information in another future issue of the COSE Update magazine. If you have additional information or feedback you would like to share with us please contact us.
Posted by:Brian Paul