October 21, 2009
Addressed to:
Senator Charles Schumer
Senator Kirsten Gillibrand
Representative Chris Lee
Representative Brian Higgins
Representative Louise Slaughter
Representative Eric Massa
Dear [Senator/Representative - ]
On behalf of the Care Management Coalition of Western New York, Inc., I am writing to urge you to ensure that health care legislation includes subsidies to help nonprofit employers provide health coverage to their workers.
Nonprofit organizations employ over 14 million people in the United States – almost 10 percent of the U.S. workforce – who are integral to the vital services these organizations provide to communities in Western New York and across the nation. The vast majority of nonprofits are small businesses, employing 50 or fewer workers and like our for-profit counterparts, we generally lack access to the range of health insurance choices available to larger businesses.
During these difficult economic times, we are facing rising demands for our services with fewer private contributions and government resources to help meet those demands. Without assistance, most small nonprofits will be forced to cut staff, cut benefits, and cut programs. Our agencies employ close to 4,000 human service professionals and serve tens of thousands of this region’s children and families when they need it the most. Without this crucial reform, a number of these services will be jeopardized.
We urge you to support the inclusion of a program subsidy, like the one offered in the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee approved bill, to both nonprofit and for-profit employers to help pay the cost of health insurance premiums. This approach provides a more direct benefit than the tax credit included in the bill adopted by the House Ways and Means Committee, which would generally not apply to tax-exempt nonprofits.
Again, we feel it is imperative that Congress ensure that any health care reform measures provide direct incentives to nonprofit employers so that they may have affordable access to health insurance options for their employees.
Sincerely,
J. Mark Robinson
Executive Director/Chief Executive Officer
