BizSugar.com › Employee Benefits › Get Ready for the Real Debate on Health Care

In survey after survey, small business owners have said that health care is their chief concern, exceeding even taxes and the credit crisis. During the presidential campaign, health care was also a key issue, and Obama vowed to make more affordable and more widely available health care a key priority of his administration.

So the stage was set when voters went to the polls in November. Although the economic rescue plan topped the president's agenda, lobbyists and small business groups were gearing up for the looming confrontation over health care even as the stimulus bill was still being hotly debated on Capitol Hill. Health care is likely to move to the front burner, if not immediately, then certainly before the end of the year.