Business Briefs

Group Wants to Reduce Health Insurance Costs for Small Businesses

The Small Business California organization has released a position paper outlining its stand on health care reform.

The top issue for small business is reducing health insurance costs.

“For small businesses issue number one is the cost of providing healthcare,” said Scott Hauge, president of Small Business California.

According to the organization, small businesses believe that any health-care reform package must contain:

• A basic package of coverage, which will provide for necessary benefits. Along the lines proposed in health researcher Marge Ginsberg’s booklet called “Just Coverage.”

• Group purchasing must be developed, expanded and encouraged. This will take advantage of federal funding and reduce administrative costs.

• Provide insurance coverage, regardless of health condition, to all Californians. This would include more than 2 million sole proprietors.

• Health-care providers must be evaluated and recommended based on outcomes; not the current system that pays for procedures regardless of how successful these procedures are to the individual’s health.

• Moving to the use of electronic records is crucial to the reduction of cost.

• Health insurance premiums must be deductible on federal and state taxes. This would give individuals purchasing insurance a tax break like businesses currently enjoy.

Regarding small businesses’ position on health-care reform, Hauge said, “Small businesses want to be part of the solution and they are willing to pay their fair share. But before asking them to do this, the cost of insurance must be brought into control and double-digit increases must become a thing of the past.”

Small Business California represents the interests of state small businesses. Its board of directors are leading advocates for small businesses and represent thousands of small businesses in the state.

Details: http://smallbusinesscalifornia.org.

Help for Employers Facing Tax Reports

Business.gov, the official business link to the U.S. government, is providing federal form searches so visitors may quickly find and download U.S. federal tax forms and guides.

Each January businesses prepare W-2s and other tax-related employer tasks, an especially challenging duty for small businesses with fewer resources than larger businesses.

Self-employed business owners also face their final estimated tax payment in January.

“January may be a stressful time for a business owner, and one of Business.gov’s goals is to ease the burden of federal compliance on businesses and make it easier to comply with regulations,” said SBA Administrator Steven C. Preston. 

The Business.gov Web site will save businesses time and money in locating the forms and guidance they need as well as searching the government for compliance resources. Failure to comply with employer tax requirements and reporting may result in fines, legal action or business closure. The estimated cost of compliance with the federal tax code for businesses is over $102 billion nationwide.

Businesses can log onto www.business.gov and access the federal forms by searching by form number or keyword in a catalog of 5,400 business and citizen forms. For example, businesses can search for W-2 forms, wage and tax statements, or employment eligibility verification and W-4 forms. Visitors may also view how-to topics on federal and state taxes in the Business Resource Library located on the site, such as how to apply for a tax ID number.

Business.gov is managed by the U.S. Small Business Administration in partnership with 21 other federal agencies and is part of the President’s Management Agenda. Originally launched in 2004, the Web site provided information on starting, growing, and managing a small business. The new compliance focus is designed to better meet the needs of the business community.

Chito Schnupp Promoted to ComUnity Lending Executive Leadership Team

Chito Schnupp has been promoted to executive vice president of Morgan Hill-based ComUnity Lending and will join the company’s now four-person executive leadership team.

A 20-year mortgage industry veteran, Schnupp will continue to focus on capital markets but will also be involved with the company’s strategic planning and vision. She joins President and CEO Darryl Fry and Executive Vice presidents Jayson Stebbins and Janene Towner on the executive leadership team.

As senior vice president-capital markets, her responsibilities included all secondary marketing operations, pricing, trading, hedging, product development, managing investor and warehouse relationship, and ensuring that the company maintains its competitive edge with loan programs and pricing.

She’s also worked with such lenders as Olympia Funding, Medallion Mortgage/AccuBank, First Franklin/National City Mortgage, Wells Fargo and others.

ComUnity Lending was founded more than a quarter-century ago, and is one of the fastest-growing mortgage companies in America.

Details: www.comunitylending.com or (800) 866-9080.