Americans: Employers Should Help Us Get Health CareAmericans: Employers Should Help Us Get Health Care

According to a new survey, 80 percent of Americans think their employers should either be required to provide health insurance to their workers or contribute to a fund to help them buy it themselves.The survey was conducted by the Commonwealth Fund, a New York foundation promoting health care reform. The notion of an employer mandate was supported by both Democrats and Republicans surveyed. The Democratic presidential candidates all include employer mandates in their health care plans, though Hillary Clinton would substitute tax incentives for mandates in the case of small businesses. None of the Republican candidates are on board with employer mandates.

The National Federation of Independent Business, on the other hand, is firmly opposed to the idea. The NFIB, which calls itself the "nation's leading small-business advocacy association, claims to support universal health care in principle but says "a health care system built on employer mandates or on play-or-pay taxes is unacceptable." In this case, though, the small business lobbying organization may be swimming against the popular tide, and it would probably be smart for SMBs to have at least contingency plans for facing required health care expenditures.Buffalo Business First