Pat Chestnut may have missed his calling.
He has all the passion of a preacher at a tent revival when he talks about one of his favorite subjects.
And that subject – I’m not kidding about this – is insurance.
Chestnut is the general manager of the Washington Farm Bureau Service Co. Inc. He basically runs the benefits program for the state Farm Bureau organization.
These days he’s a man on a mission. And that mission is to get the U.S. Senate to authorize association health plans, something the House has already done.
President Bush endorsed the concept last week in his State of the Union address. And Chestnut says it’s vital if small business owners are ever to get a handle on the skyrocketing costs for health insurance.
For those who haven’t read about the concept (we ran a Small Business column on this topic on Friday’s Business pages), they’re basically a way for small businesses to get the same insurance buying power as a large corporation.
An association – a builders’ group, a chamber of commerce, etc. – offer insurance to its members so they wouldn’t have to secure it on their own.
“It would create a system where small businesses can come together and get the same deal as the big guys,” Chestnut told members of the Greater Marysville Tulalip Chamber of Commerce at a Friday breakfast meeting.
By federal law, businesses with 100 or more employees can have self-funded health care programs that are exempt from state mandates. Or as Chestnut puts it, they’re not “subject to all the state goofiness.”
State legislators, he noted, are lobbied heavily by a variety of groups seeking improved health benefits.
While companies like Microsoft don’t have to offer those benefits to their workers, small businesses that do often pay 35 to 40 percent more for their coverage, he said.
He offered somewhat of an extreme example, noting that in Arkansas, small businesses most cover invitro fertilization for employees having difficulty conceiving a child, something that has sent insurance premiums up 17 percent for that benefit alone.
Political solutions to the nation’s health care crisis “continue to fail and to drive costs higher,” Chestnut said.
“My belief is if you never bought the stuff (health insurance) you shouldn’t be allowed to vote on it.”
That’s why he wants for the associations bill – something he says will allow small businesses to reap all the advantages of competition now enjoyed by the big companies – what he calls a level playing field.
Support for the bill is by no means universal.
Many unions oppose it, fearing that it would reduce health care for workers.
Others have suggested it would allow associations to “cherry pick” those who will get coverage, typically healthy people who don’t need it. That would, in turn, make health insurance more expensive or perhaps unattainable for others who need help.
Chestnut dismisses the critics, saying there are enough safeguards placed in the bill to ensure that association health plans would be responsible and financially stable.
He’s hoping to round up strong support for the plan to convince a reluctant Congress.
“We need a great big uprising from the grassroots right now,” he said.
Business editor Mike Benbow: 425-339-3459 or
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