Every four years, the National Federation of Independent Business publishes a survey listing the concerns and priorities of small business owners. New York notes that while the top ranking is no surprise, there are items that are of greater concern in New York than in other states.
"We cover all the issues small business owners face on a daily basis," says Ashley Ranslow, director of the New York State National Federation of Independent Business.
Ranslow explained that the groups represent 75 situations or problems that small business owners are asked to rate. A national sample of 40,000 NFIB members and a separate sample of 1,500 for New York were used to compile the state-by-state rankings.
At the top of the list in New York State is the cost of health insurance. It has ranked first since 1986 and argues that this is partly due to the nature of health insurance.
"The smaller your business, the harder it is to provide affordable health insurance because you're in the small group market," she said. "Health insurance gets more expensive every year for everyone, but it gets even more expensive for small business owners because they buy such a small amount compared to their larger counterparts."
Eric Linzer, president and CEO of the Association of Health Insurance Companies of New York, blames two reasons for such a high ranking: the rising cost of care and benefit mandating laws passed in Albany.
"These services individually may have minimal cost, but when you put them together, they result in significant costs to small businesses, and I think policymakers need to look at the need for some of these proposals," he said.
Linzer and others fear the situation could get even worse for small business owners if the state passes the New York Health Care Act and moves to a single-payer health insurance system.
"It will significantly increase taxes on employers and consumers and is estimated to be more than $250 billion," he said.
Supporters of the New York Health Law disagree that it will make the problem worse. State Senator Gustavo Rivera says there is evidence to the contrary.
"The coalition supporting the New York State Health Care Law is constantly reaching out to business owners who are faced with the high cost of health insurance. Creating a single payer health care system will relieve business owners and their employers of health care costs and administrative hassles," he says. By eliminating premiums, co-pays, deductibles and other out-of-network costs, more than 95% of New Yorkers, including small business owners, would save money under the New York Health Care Law, according to a study by the RAND Corporation.
Ranslow, however, insists that concerns about health insurance are commonplace across the country and therefore unsurprising. So what makes New York different from other states?
"Business performance taxes rank third compared to ninth in the nation," she said.
Unemployment insurance, workers' compensation and the cost of gas and electricity were also higher in New York than in other states.
Ranslow thinks lawmakers should take note.
"Workers' compensation is significantly higher than the rest of the country, unemployment insurance is significantly higher. These are issues that state legislators can address and create," she said.
Also in the top ten in New York were the cost of supplies and inventory, uncertain economic conditions and government actions, and finding qualified employees.