Employees, job seekers could both deal with any insurance

 

Tuesday, Apr 07,2009, 3:15:19 PM   Click:

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Source: Associated Press
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RALEIGH, NC_North Carolina's unemployment rate is at its highest level on record, and with it are concerns that tens of thousands of workers, both employees _ _ and the unemployed will lose employer subsidized insurance disease.

Dr. Kevin Schulman, director of the program management of the health sector at Duke University's business school, said premiums could push smaller companies into a choice between coverage or layoffs. He said workers see other franchises in May raised so high that they will be able to rely on it for a little more than catastrophic emergencies.

The National Federation of Independent Business reports less than half of North Carolina small businesses can afford health insurance coverage for employees.

But a little help could come. For example, an extension of a federal program may provide another 17,000 children in North Carolina.