America’s small businesses stand at the forefront of innovation. Our entrepreneurs are the first to adopt new technologies and take new approaches in old industries. As engines of job creation, small businesses are the leading edge that pushes our economy forward. They are also, unfortunately, on the front lines of the health care crisis. Many of the problems faced by small businesses are the same ones that plague our families: premiums that rise far faster than wages, endless red tape, and a bewildering insurance marketplace where consumers have few choices and even less bargaining power. And where they face problems that differ – a whole business’ premiums going up when one employee gets sick, the difficulty of recruiting and retaining good employees when health care is so expensive – these failures of our health care system can lead to small businesses shutting their doors, killing jobs and harming our economy.

Without health care reform, the United States is projected to spend over $40 trillion on health care in the next decade. Experts estimate that thirty percent of that spending – up to $12 trillion dollars – will be wasted on ineffective care, pointless red tape, and counterproductive treatments that can actually harm patients.

Health insurance in the United States is regulated by federal and state laws. The federal government sets standards for employee benefit plans and protects consumers who experience lapses in coverage due to losing or changing jobs. States have the authority to regulate the business of the private individual health insurance market, as well as some components of employer-provided insurance. With regulation of the individual health insurance market left to the states, it is important that states provide consumers with the protections they need to access quality, affordable health care by holding insurance companies accountable. Without proper regulation, consumers often fall victim to unfair insurance industry practices that leave them in debt and without medical care.

False and misleading prescription drug advertising is common and dangerous. Prescription drug marketers are inundating doctors, and to a lesser extent, the public, with marketing that misrepresents risks, promotes unproven uses, and makes unsubstantiated claims.