WILLMAR -- Russ Bennett was leaving his office Monday morning to attend a health care forum with Sen. Norm Coleman when one of his employees stopped him with the news: The company's health care premiums are going up 15 percent next year.
Bennett, the owner of Bennett Office Technologies, shared the story with Coleman less than an hour later to illustrate how rising health care costs are gulping up an ever-increasing share of small-business expenses.
"We'd like to add a couple more positions, employ some people, but we can't," Bennett said. "It is affecting jobs."
The forum was one in a series Coleman has been hosting this month. The Republican senator is traveling around the state to hear Minnesotans' concerns about health care and to share his own ideas about how to improve health care coverage and reduce costs.
Around 50 people showed up Monday for the forum in Willmar, held at the Lakeland Health Center. The audience included local business owners, health care workers, and a delegation of AARP members in matching red t-shirts.
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Coleman, who will be up for re-election next year, said health care promises will be a central issue in virtually every candidate's campaign.
"I hear about health care just about more than any other domestic issue," he said.
The concerns are many, he said. Americans are worried about the rising cost of doctor visits, hospital stays and prescription drugs. They're worried about increasing premiums and out-of-pocket expenses. They're worried about losing their insurance and not being able to obtain coverage.
Coleman said any plan to improve the health care system must have three essential ingredients: access, affordability and quality.
"All of them you have to address... That's the challenge," he said.
Among some of the specifics he offered:
n Require all Americans to have some form of health care coverage, so those who are insured don't have to pick up the costs for those who aren't.
n Offer tax credits to help level the playing field for people who don't buy health insurance through an employer.
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n Place more emphasis on preventive care.
n Provide grants that help health providers tap into technology, such as telemedicine and electronic health records, that allow them to be more cost-efficient.
n Provide more leverage for small businesses so they can buy health insurance for their employees at more competitive rates.
Nathan Streed urged Coleman to consider some tax incentives for small businesses that are on the brink of either raising their co-pays or dropping employee coverage altogether.
He also had another question for the senator: What can be done to involve the under-40 crowd in the debate about health care reform?
"Ultimately they're the ones paying for it down the road," he said.
Jay Kieft, director of Kandiyohi County Family Services, wanted to know what's being done to hold down pharmaceutical costs and provide better coverage for mental health care.
Others in the audience had questions about home health care and about Medicare's Part D prescription drug coverage.
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Coleman told the crowd there's a range of things that can be done to improve health care access and delivery -- and urged people to speak up if they have ideas.
"It really is up to you to come to us, because you're dealing with it every day," he said.
Democrats dismissed Coleman's health care forums Monday as "platitudes."
"It's an election-year ploy," said Brian Melendez, Minnesota DFL chairman.
If Minnesotans genuinely want to evaluate how a candidate's health care proposals stack up, they should consider whether the plan addresses the uninsured, Melendez said.
They also should ask whether the proposal is cost-efficient and fair, and whether it has a reasonable mechanism to pay for it, he said.
"People will start paying closer attention when we get into the new year," he said. "I believe some of these hard questions are going to get asked."
Coleman told reporters after the forum that the two parties are not that far apart in their approach to health care reform.
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Voters are pressuring Congress to come up with solutions that carry some substance, he said.
"It's forcing politicians to put something on the table," he said.
