Missouri Chamber of Commerce to Launch Program to Help Small Businesses Offer Health Benefits

The Missouri Chamber of Commerce soon will introduce a "cost management program" designed to help small businesses offer employer-sponsored coverage by "combin[ing] the benefits of self-insurance and traditional health coverage in a customized package," the Kansas City Star reports. Under Missouri Chamber Care, employers would be able to design their own health plans, to "accumulate health insurance fund surpluses year to year," and to have access to employee claims activity each year, enabling them to "make more informed health insurance policy decisions." The chamber said the program would help "stabilize" insurance premiums, "which can rise dramatically for small businesses year after year." According to a chamber survey, one out of three Missouri small employers cannot afford employer-sponsored coverage. Daniel Mehan, president and CEO of the chamber, said, "Large companies have used this approach to their advantage for many years. Now the Missouri Chamber of Commerce is making this approach a viable alternative for small- and medium-size employers by introducing a program that will provide health coverage options and administrative support necessary to set up and maintain such a program" (Karash, Kansas City Star, 4/18).