Healthcare Affordability is Important on Personal & Business Levels

By Ludmila Parada, president & general manager, Nelly's Childcare & Preschool

California has led the way in many areas, including expanding access to healthcare. And yet despite tremendous strides to strengthen the healthcare market, millions remain uninsured, including many entrepreneurs and small business employees.

Like millions of Americans, healthcare is a huge issue for me. The importance of healthcare became even more glaring when my husband, Mario, was misdiagnosed and became a multiple amputee as a result.

The pandemic shined an even brighter spotlight on the need for accessible healthcare when as a minority, woman small business owner, I became acutely aware of how easily members of my community were disproportionately impacted by the toll of COVID-19. As the pandemic continued, and the longevity of my business became more precarious, I recognized that in California, there are so few affordable healthcare options for me and my employees who make less than $50,000 per year. Additionally, the system is anti-competitive as most employees have no other choice but to receive healthcare from a provider that is also their insurer.

The California General Assembly recently heard two bills on healthcare consolidation and cost-sharing reductions. Both bills are common-sense policies that when passed, will be an important step to strengthen healthcare markets and contain costs.

Currently, the temptation for small business owners to forgo offering healthcare benefits is too high. Anti-competitive practices and expensive co-pays don’t make offering healthcare feasible for smaller firms. But going without healthcare is too dangerous, and I don’t want to put my employees in a position to choose between paying for groceries or high premiums. I hope these bills will make it to Governor Newsom’s desk soon, and he moves to sign both bills into law quickly.