| The purpose of this study was to examine the attitudes of small businesses towards association health plans, a proposed legislation aimed at providing affordable, quality health care through the small business entity. This study addressed the question of small business participation in Association Health Plans (AHP) by breaking small firms (those with 50 or fewer employees) into 4 categories: firms that currently offer health coverage and support joining AHP (Coverage/AHP) (n=79); firms that currently do not offer coverage and support joining AHP (No coverage/AHP) (n=39); firms that offer coverage and do not support joining AHP (Coverage/AHP) (n=21); and firms that do not offer coverage and are against joining AHP (No coverage/No AHP) (n=27).; Three Midwestern communities were sampled using local Chamber of Commerce memberships: one representing a rural community with little industry (n=31, 12.4%); one as an example of a medium sized city with a predominantly manufacturing industry (n=65, 26%); and the last community represents a medium sized city with diverse industries (n=96, 10.9%). Random samples of 250 firms were selected for the first two communities. The final community served as the pilot study, and involved the total membership of 850 firms.; The survey instrument was adapted from the Kaiser Foundation's Employer Based Insurance Survey (2002). Additional questions were added involving awareness of AHP, and intent to join an AHP.; Several major results were found: (1) there was no significant difference in firm size in those who indicated intent to join an AHP. (2) Coverage/No AHP firms offered a higher range of benefits than other firms. (3) No coverage/No AHP were motivated primarily by cost concerns for initial and future premiums. (4) the relationship between intent to join an AHP and quality of physician services offered by plans, and cost concerns, respectively, was statistically significant.; The results suggest that business response will not be homogeneous, signaling the need for further research, such as a price sensitivity analysis to have a better understanding of firm and employee reactions to costs, a key concern for all firms in the current study. |
