Millions of Americans are affected by the Supreme Court's decision on President Obama's health care overhaul. The decision has a lot of people in the Quad Cities area talking.
There are still mixed opinions, some area breathing a sigh of relief and others feeling frustrated at the ruling. Many still have questions on how they, their families, and those who have businesses to run could be affected.
If anyone knows the woes of health care it's Mick Landauer. The Davenport resident owned a local muffler shop for several decades. A combination of his pre-existing medical condition, congenital heart disease, and contributing to his employees insurance costs which continued to rise year after year, forced him to sell the business.
"Rather than no one having insurance it was easier for me to leave the shop," said Landauer.
Several years ago Landauer testified before a congressional sub-committee. He spoke to lawmakers about his thoughts on people with pre-existing conditions, and how they should not be singled out for affordable health care. As far as the Supreme Court's ruling Thursday, Landauer is not on board with idea at the heart of the controversy: the individual mandate.
"If a person doesn't buy it he can be taxed. They say it's legal to tax anybody and I think that's wrong," added Landauer.
Though he's not a business owner anymore, he wonders where small businesses across the country will go from here. Landauer predicts there will be tough decisions on paying for employee insurance. "That more and more small and medium-sized businesses under the limit are going to drop insurance completely."
Employees would face the responsibility themselves. Lawmakers say then costs would be capped. "Eight percent of their income that's it," said Illinois Senator Dick Durbin. "What it does is dramatically expand the credits and deductions available for small businesses to offer health insurance."
Businesses with more than 50 employees will have to provide it but Landauer thinks that could affect hiring decisions. "More work needs to be done," he added.
