Traci Endo Inouye, Social Policy Research Associates, Leslie Goodyear, Evaluation Consultant to WKKF

Small businesses are far less likely to provide health insurance for their workers than larger businesses, because for higher health care costs. Small businesses pay almost 20 percent more per worker than large firms for the same health insurance policy. Many of these higher costs are passed on to employees in the form of lower wages, and affect the profits of small businesses.

For the benefit of Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, Pacific Islanders, and all Americans, we must reform our health care system and to remove barriers to getting needed health care. As Congress continues its work on health reform, one of the options it is considering is creating a public health insurance plan that would compete with private insurance plans. A high-quality, affordable public plan will keep health care costs down.

We all value a system where people are treated fairly. Unfortunately, there are millions of people in this country who work hard and pay their fair share of taxes but would be denied access to affordable health care under current proposals. Legal immigrants who qualify for Medicaid services are unfairly denied access to the program for five years even though they pay taxes like everyone else.

There are more than 5 million Asian Americans, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islanders (AA and NHPI) in California, equal to about 14% of the state's population. The AA and NHPI population in California is projected to grow to 18% in 2025.