Health insurance costs and proposed legislation for future health insurance options are a continuing source of frustration and pain for millions of small business owners and entrepreneurs looking to grow their operations. As health costs rise for small business they may be faced with the unwanted task of laying off even more people to avoid the costs associated with new health regulations.

Small business owners are already pinched hard when it comes to intellectual capital available to help them grow their business and expand. Less workers means more tasks for the business owner, especially as it relates to functions like marketing, advertising, public relations and social media.

Organizations like the National Federation of Independent Business and the National Small Business Association each have great concerns over the direction of health care costs for small business. According to The Wall Street Journal, the proposed health bill says small firms with payrolls above $500,000 will contribute 72.5 percent of premium costs for single coverage and 65 percent of premiums for family coverage (regarding full-time employees). Small firms that fail to do so would face a penalty of 2% - 8% tax depending on how much your total payroll. There are plans out there and plenty of experts to turn to but there is a lot of confusion as well.

What does this mean for you as a small business owner? The worst case scenario is less employees and less money to grow your business. It also means you’ll need to find affordable services to help you develop outreach to customers. From a marketing perspective it means you’d have to take on even more of a hands-on role to build marketing programs, develop PR programs and campaigns and drive social media awareness for your customers.

How are you coping with this scenario? What are you doing to find affordable health insurance and coverage for your employees? Please let us know by leaving a comment.