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SBHIC Small Business Survey

To better understand the health insurance needs of local small business owners, research was conducted with small employers in two phases in the early part of 2008. In the first phase, key informant interviews were conducted with 10 Whatcom County small business owners. Key informants were asked to provide information about their business as well as discuss the benefits and barriers to providing their employees with health insurance.

Input from these interviews was used to inform the second phase of the research -- a large-scale web-based small employer health insurance survey.  Results from this survey and other information collected from private and public insurers, brokers and policy leaders have been used to design and develop WAHA’s Small Business Health Insurance Connector (SBHIC) service. 

Survey Methodology

Participants

The small employer health insurance survey was introduced via e-mail to all small business members of the Bellingham Chamber of Commerce, Lynden Chamber of Commerce, Ferndale Chamber of Commerce, Blaine Chamber of Commerce, Sustainable Connections and Whatcom Council of Nonprofits. Estimated sample size was 1,900 including duplicates as some small businesses may have been members of more than one of of the above organizations.

Instrument

The survey was designed and developed based on the results from key informant interviews in the first phase of the research project as well as input from the SBHIC Advisory Committee which includes the Directors of the Whatcom County Economic Development Council, Bellingham/Whatcom Chamber of Commerce and Western Washington University’s Small Business Development Center.

Survey questions collected descriptive information about each business, whether businesses provided employer-sponsored health insurance and why, what barriers exist for small employers in accessing affordable cover and what interest they had in a health insurance connector service.  Employers were also asked about their interest in employee wellness programs. Responses were collected and analyzed using the web based survey tool, Zoomerang.

Procedure

Participants were invited to participate in an on-line survey via a Zoomerang-generated URL initiated by their membership affiliation above. Reminder emails were also distributed in the same fashion at a mid-point in the data collection process.

Results

Of the 1,900 approximate business owners invited to participate in the survey, 170 responded to the survey – a 9% response rate. Note: responses collected were anonymous so individual organizations participating in the survey cannot be identified. Click here to view the key findings.