Readout of the Vice President's Healthcare Listening Session with Women Small Business Owners

Vice President Mike Pence, Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) Tom Price, M.D., Administrator of the Small Business Administration (SBA) Linda McMahon, Administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Seema Verma, and Counselor to the President Kellyanne Conway met with women small business owners today at the White House to discuss the ongoing harmful effects of the disastrous Obamacare law, specifically its detrimental impact on small business employers, and why we must repeal and replace it with a plan that benefits all Americans. This is the most recent roundtable in a series of listening sessions hosted at the White House as the Administration continues to work with Congress on a path forward to repealing and replacing Obamacare, and reforming the broken healthcare system.

The Vice President started the conversation by welcoming the small business owners to the White House, noting the importance of having women entrepreneurs from across the country express their concerns about the collapsing Obamacare law.

Secretary Price expressed the need for Congress to act, and the initiatives HHS is executing to mitigate the damages of the burdensome rules and regulations that have negatively affected America's small businesses. Administrator McMahon discussed the feedback she has received from many small business owners who have expressed that the biggest hurdle to small business growth is the rising costs of healthcare. Administrator Verma highlighted her own story as a small business owner, and the number one challenge she faced was dealing with burdensome government regulations. Kellyanne Conway also discussed her background as a small business owner, and the need to repeal and replace Obamacare to lessen the burden on taxpayers.

All of the entrepreneurs noted that their stories were not unique, and many shared the same difficulties of offering healthcare benefits to their employees, especially affordable ones with low premiums and low deductibles. The adverse effects of Obamacare on their businesses, including being forced to cut benefits for their employees due to the rising costs of healthcare, was a common theme preventing their businesses from flourishing.

"We had to make a conscious decision not to grow because of Obamacare," Sandra Dozier Hill, Founder of Hill & Associate CPAs told the group. Her firm is down to four workers because it was too costly for them to replace an employee that retired.

"Healthcare is the anchor that keeps dragging us down," added NeeCee Lee, Payroll Manager and Co-Owner of Lee and Cates Glass and Flat Glass Distributors. Her firm lost several trained technicians to competitors because of healthcare options.

The following individuals participated:

• Becky Beanblossom, President of 3B Enterprise, Inc. dba Home Instead Senior Care, Louisville, KY
• Dudley Hoskins Bostic, Co-owner of Hoskins Drug Store, Clinton, TN
• Pat Felder, Owner of Felder's Collison Parts, Baton Rouge, LA
• Sandra Dozier Hill, Founder of Hill & Associate CPAs, Richmond, KY
• NeeCee Lee, Payroll Manager and Co-Owner of Lee and Cates Glass and Flat Glass Distributors, Jacksonville, FL
• Gina Martin, Founder and Vice President of Little Rock Tours, Little Rock, AR
• Kelly Moore, Co-Owner and Vice President of GKM Auto Parts, dba NAPA Auto Parts, Zainesville, OH
• Amy Pope-Wells, President of Link Staffing Services, Jacksonville, FL
• Tracie Sanchez, President of Lima Pallet Company, Lima, OH