hat a consumer-driven health care model with universal mandated basic coverage would provide "a safety net for the disadvantaged."

We recently surveyed some of our Best Bosses to get their perspectives on this complicated issue. Of the 16 leaders we surveyed – encompassing a wide range of industries, with IT and telecommunications being most prevalent – 63 percent feel that employees are most responsible for ens

In a recent New York Times/CBS survey, access to affordable health care was identified as the primary issue on the public's domestic agenda. According to the Times, a majority of respondents favor a federal guarantee of health insurance for every American, and they voiced a willingness to pay as much as $500 in additional taxes a year and forgo future tax cuts to accomplish this. The Times added that "Americans remain divided, largely along party lines, over whether the government should require everyone to participate in a national health care plan, and over whether the government would do a better job than the private insurance industry in providing coverage."

Clearly, something needs to be done to streamline or overhaul health insurance coverage nationwide. The most current federal data notes that 44.8 million Americans are without health insurance. This is nothing short of a crisis, says Andy Stern, international president of Service Employees International Union (SEIU). SEIU is partnering with AARP and the Business Roundtable in a campaign called "Divided We Fail," which is pushing for fundamental change in the health care system using the influence of their combined 50 million members.

While the "Divided We Fail" partnership seeks bipartisan solutions to the health care debate, others see solutions emerging outside the political arena. In late March, Richard Berner, chief U.S. economist for Morgan Stanley, wrote in The Wall Street Journal that he believes the solution is to "get health-care financing out of the workplace and require coverage, more personal responsibility and market incentives." Berner believes that a consumer-driven health care model with universal mandated basic coverage would provide "a safety net for the disadvantaged."

We recently surveyed some of our Best Bosses to get their perspectives on this complicated issue. Of the 16 leaders we surveyed – encompassing a wide range of industries, with IT and telecommunications being most prevalent – 63 percent feel that employees are most responsible for ens

"Americans remain divided, largely along party lines, over whether the government should require everyone to participate in a national health care plan, and over whether the government would do a better job than the private insurance industry in providing coverage."

Clearly, something needs to be done to streamline or overhaul health insurance coverage nationwide. The most current federal data notes that 44.8 million Americans are without health insurance. This is nothing short of a crisis, says Andy Stern, international president of Service Employees International Union (SEIU). SEIU is partnering with AARP and the Business Roundtable in a campaign called "Divided We Fail," which is pushing for fundamental change in the health care system using the influence of their combined 50 million members.

While the "Divided We Fail" partnership seeks bipartisan solutions to the health care debate, others see solutions emerging outside the political arena. In late March, Richard Berner, chief U.S. economist for Morgan Stanley, wrote in The Wall Street Journal that he believes the solution is to "get health-care financing out of the workplace and require coverage, more personal responsibility and market incentives." Berner believes that a consumer-driven health care model with universal mandated basic coverage would provide "a safety net for the disadvantaged."

We recently surveyed some of our Best Bosses to get their perspectives on this complicated issue. Of the 16 leaders we surveyed – encompassing a wide range of industries, with IT and telecommunications being most prevalent – 63 percent feel that employees are most responsible for ens

illion Americans are without health insurance. This is nothing short of a crisis, says Andy Stern, international president of Service Employees International Union (SEIU). SEIU is partnering with AARP and the Business Roundtable in a campaign called "Divided We Fail," which is pushing for fundamental change in the health care system using the influence of their combined 50 million members.

While the "Divided We Fail" partnership seeks bipartisan solutions to the health care debate, others see solutions emerging outside the political arena. In late March, Richard Berner, chief U.S. economist for Morgan Stanley, wrote in The Wall Street Journal that he believes the solution is to "get health-care financing out of the workplace and require coverage, more personal responsibility and market incentives." Berner believes that a consumer-driven health care model with universal mandated basic coverage would provide "a safety net for the disadvantaged."

We recently surveyed some of our Best Bosses to get their perspectives on this complicated issue. Of the 16 leaders we surveyed – encompassing a wide range of industries, with IT and telecommunications being most prevalent – 63 percent feel that employees are most responsible for ens

Fail" partnership seeks bipartisan solutions to the health care debate, others see solutions emerging outside the political arena. In late March, Richard Berner, chief U.S. economist for Morgan Stanley, wrote in The Wall Street Journal that he believes the solution is to "get health-care financing out of the workplace and require coverage, more personal responsibility and market incentives." Berner believes that a consumer-driven health care model with universal mandated basic coverage would provide "a safety net for the disadvantaged."

We recently surveyed some of our Best Bosses to get their perspectives on this complicated issue. Of the 16 leaders we surveyed – encompassing a wide range of industries, with IT and telecommunications being most prevalent – 63 percent feel that employees are most responsible for ens

hat a consumer-driven health care model with universal mandated basic coverage would provide "a safety net for the disadvantaged."

We recently surveyed some of our Best Bosses to get their perspectives on this complicated issue. Of the 16 leaders we surveyed – encompassing a wide range of industries, with IT and telecommunications being most prevalent – 63 percent feel that employees are most responsible for ensuring that they receive adequate medical coverage. Thirty-eight percent feel this responsibility falls on the shoulders of the federal government, and 25 percent say it is up to insurance providers.

The bosses' comments related to this issue appear split between wanting the government and insurance providers to take responsibility and provide real solutions. The president and CEO of a hosted VoIP phone system provider on the East Coast says he would "make transparent the crappy service of insurance providers." Meanwhile, the president of a New England-based custom publishing and creative services company says that "If the insurance and health care providers cannot solve the problem, then I do think it is the responsibility of government to do so on behalf of employers and employees alike."

Despite the fact that rising health care costs have hit small businesses especially hard, these leaders are doing what they can to offset costs and keep their health care benefits attractive enough to retain employees. Sixty-three percent of the bosses provide a PPO benefit for their employees, 21 percent provide an HMO benefit and 8 percent allow employees to choose between the two benefits.

To minimize health insurance rate increases, 63 percent of the leaders we surveyed have increased employee co-pays in the last two years. Twenty-four percent have created health savings accounts (HSAs) for this purpose. One leader who put HSAs in place at his Midwest-based staffing agency also increased deductibles. This has helped manage costs while mitigating out-of-pocket expenses for his 12 full-time and 300 part-time employees.

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