Health plan will cripple business

Re “Democrats merge health plans,” June 22

As a small manufacturing business, we’d like to know how our legislators propose we pay for such a large contribution toward employee health insurance? Payroll expense represents 41% of our total revenue. Our health insurance expense represents 2.7% of our total payroll cost. As we approach our June 30 fiscal year end, our net profit is only 1% of our total revenue. Such a low profit is not unusual for us.

Year after year, expenses increase while the market continues to push pricing down in our increasingly competitive and commoditized industry.

Increasing our health insurance contribution to 7.5% of payroll means we will be losing money. Losing money is never an option -- cuts would be needed as we would likely be unable to maintain the progressive level of benefits, wages, working conditions and opportunities that we currently offer. Too bad -- I guess we’ll have to lay off employees and start sending our work to China.

CAMILLE CARR-RAMIREZ

Van Nuys

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I am amazed that the Democrats who control the Legislature keep coming up with ways to drive businesses out of this state. Forcing businesses to pay at least 7.5% of their payrolls for workers’ healthcare is yet another reason for business to avoid California. Nevada, Arizona and even Mexico are much more business friendly.

If this tax is enacted, thousands of workers will find themselves still without insurance because they’ll be unemployed after their employers leave.

TERRANCE DAUPLAISE

Torrance