Insured in America

By Marc Tracy

A little under a year ago, a small cafe opened in the neighborhood of your BizBox editor (who is now--spoiler alert!--writing his farewell post, even as the blog itself will remain, robust as ever). It was started by a couple grad school dropouts whose prime motivation, by far, was to experience the thrill of running their own business, to do something they want to do, and to please their customers. They gave every indication that if they wanted to, they could have found a job doing something, somewhere, even in this economy, that would have provided them an ample living. In other words, they weren't doing it for the money.

But just because they weren't doing it for the money doesn't mean they didn't--or don't (for they are still very much around)--need the money to continue. You need money to live, and, because of illness, you need money to keep on living. And that is the tension that lies at the heart of the small business experience, including the writing of a blog about it. Being an entrepreneur provides its own unique set of risks and rewards. But, at least for most small business owners we have come to know, these don't primarily have to do with income. They have to do with self-actualization, with enjoying life, with achieving a better work-life balance, and with serving and playing a bigger role in the community. It is in the economic interests of America to promote entrepreneurs, particularly those whose tiny tech and life-sciences start-ups are eventually going to bring in billions of dollars, create millions of jobs, and change the world. But it is also in the social interests of America to promote entrepreneurs, because in most communities--whether the one-stoplight town in the heartland or New York City's East Village--it is small businesses that drive the community's pulse.

So how? We've spent a lot (a lot) of time focusing on what the government, local and state governments but mainly the federal government, can do vis-a-vis small businesses in order to make America an even better place than it already is. We've spent (and will continue to spend--do not take this blog off your RSS feed; and if it isn't there already, well, what are you waiting for?) a massive amount of time on the Small Business Administration's credit programs; on efforts to juice consumer spending; on federal tax policies; on fiscal stimulus and immigration and countless other issues. All are important. And we--okay, I--want to thank you for giving me the opportunity to explore these issues. (It's probably also worth thanking my great bosses at Washingtonpost.Newsweek Interactive, as well as our sponsor, American Express OPEN.) I sincerely hope I (and my fabulous contributing authors, who will continue to be BizBox contributors) helped you understand better how your government views small business, and how it is helping and, in a few unfortunate cases, hindering it.

But in trying to leave BizBox on a single note, we were looking for a single something that is both powerful and timely.

After a week-long Thanksgiving recess, the Senate will return to considering a health care reform bill, similar to one already passed by the House of Representatives and containing proposals broadly endorsed by President Barack Obama, that would make it vastly easier for Americans to have health insurance regardless of whether they currently hold payroll jobs. We understand that among small business owners the complete range of the political spectrum is represented; we even understand that there is a good chance that the community of small business owners tends ever more slightly to the right than to the left. We also know that any health care reform that is passed will be fully pleasing to neither side, and may even contain, to both sides, some odious features. But political circumstances have conspired to give us these bills, and it seems extremely unlikely that a similar chance will come again any time soon.

Which is why it's important for small business owners to let their representatives, their local newspapers, their neighbors, and their families know that, caveats and warts and all, they support the health care reform bills. Anyone who cares about the state of entrepreneurship in the United States--which is to say, about the United States--cannot deny that we need a system where an ambitious and talented man or woman can drop out of the workforce to pursue his or her dream, and doesn't have to worry about what happens if he or she gets sick. If America has the best entrepreneurs without such a safety net--and it does--then imagine what it can do with one.

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November 25, 2009 1:17 PM