Media Release |
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| For Immediate Release | Contact | Phone |
| Friday, April 24, 2009 | Eve Weissman | 732-246-4772 x22 |
| Crystal Snedden | 973-643-8800 |
New Jersey Small Business Owner Invited to White House for Friday Roundtable on Health Care
Small businesses to make case for the choice of a public health insurance plan at roundtable with White House Office of Health Reform
** NOTE: To schedule an interview with Dr. Melba Bonelli, call 732-246-4772 x.22 **
Highland Park, NJ — On Friday, April 24, Dr. Melba Bonelli, a small business owner from Camden, NJ and member of the NJ Main Street Alliance will travel to Washington, DC at the invitation of the White House to participate in a roundtable discussion with small business owners hosted by Nancy-Ann DeParle, Director of the White House Office of Health Reform. The roundtable will be shown live on CSPAN and at www.whitehouse.gov and www.healthreform.gov at 11:00 a.m.
At the meeting, Dr. Bonelli will join other small businesses in making the case for why President Obama's proposal to provide everyone with the choice of a public health insurance plan is a necessary component of health care reform in order to lower health care costs and guarantee access to quality, dependable coverage for small businesses.
Next week on Wednesday, April 29, Kelly Conklin, a NJ Main Street Alliance member from Bloomfield, NJ will be testifying before the House Ways and Means Committee Chaired by Charles B. Rangel (D-NY). The hearing will focus on trends in employer-sponsored health insurance and strategies to strengthen and build upon job-based coverage and will take place at 10:00 a.m. in the main committee hearing room, 1100 Longworth House Office Building.
A recent report by the nonpartisan Commonwealth Fund shows that comprehensive health reform with the choice of a public health insurance plan would save $231 billion for private employers from 2010-2020, and $3 trillion on national health expenditures ($2.2 trillion of those savings would be lost with the exclusion of the public plan option). The public health insurance option is projected to offer immediate savings to small businesses, lowering premiums by 20-30 percent over current rates in the small group and individual markets.
"Small businesses can create the jobs to help revitalize our economy, but we've got to get health care fixed. We need real health reform, and we need it now — this year," said Conklin.
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The NJ Main Street Alliance (NJMSA) is a coalition of over 270 small business owners, self-employed entrepreneurs, and non-profit organizations from across the State working towards a comprehensive solution to New Jersey's — and the nation's — health care crisis. Since its inception in August 2008, NJMSA has been committed to ensuring that small business owners have a real voice in the policy debate over health care reform. NJMSA is dedicated to educating the public and New Jersey's elected officials about the need for a renewed health care system that works for our employees, our families, and our communities and provides a choice of a public health insurance option. NJMSA —
http://www.njforhealthcare.org/mainstreet.html.
