Reply #2: One of the biggest benefits for small businesses would've been what

[SharonAnn]

John Kerry proposed. A government "re-insurance" plan that paid for catastrophic medical costs. For example, any costs over $50,000 in a year.

This would allow small companies who have an employee who gets sick and incurs significant costs to continue offering affordable insurance to their employees. As it is, if that happens, the insurance company either jacks up the cost significantly to the company for the next year or refuses to write insurance for them at all.

This coverage of the catastrophic portion of the costs would reduce the cost of private insurance to these companies and make it more possible for them to offer it to them employees.

Also, it would would put all the employees of these companies into a large "risk pool" to more appropriately reduce the cost of the catastrophic coverage.