FIELD OF FLOWERS

Donn Flipse, chief executive of Davie's Field of Flowers, has a simple message for Washington: ``They want to cover more people, which is fine, if that's what the American people want. But how are we going to reduce the costs?

His company pays $62,000 in healthcare premiums annually -- a 12 percent increase from a year ago. ``It seems like they just keep going up and up,'' said Flipse, 62, who founded Field of Flowers 19 years ago.

Field of Flowers pays half the cost of premiums for full-time workers, which means an employee must pay $114 every two weeks for individual coverage. Workers have to pick up the entire cost of coverage for other family members, which can as much as $570 biweekly.

``Many employees simply can't afford it,'' Flipse said. ``Out of 47 full-time employees who would qualify, only 24 are on the plan.''

As a result, Flipse said Field of Flowers is in danger of falling below the percentage of participation level that its carrier requires. ``We may not be able to get group medical insurance'' if the number of participating employees falls much further, he said. If that happens, the company may have to lease employees through a Professional Employer Organization, or PEO, to ensure those workers get insurance.

``If we didn't do that, we may have to tell employees we can't get group medical insurance,'' he said. ``That would be a shame. I'd hate for that to happen.''

Flipse said caps on malpractice claims might help lower medical costs. He opposes any mandate that requires businesses of a certain size to provide health insurance. ``It's a free market,'' he said.

Flipse favors moving away from employer-based insurance to a system that's either individual or government-based. ``It probably makes sense to get the employer or company out of the middle of this,'' he said. ``Whatever's less expensive for our company is what I'd prefer.''

-- PATRICK DANNER

LAS VEGAS CUBAN RESTAURANTS

Miriam Vilariño, a member of the family that owns 14 restaurants in Broward and Miami-Dade counties, said the business is ``basically surviving by the grace of God,'' during this recession and can't afford to deal with healthcare costs.

Most of its 250 employees couldn't afford to pay for even part of the premiums anyway because they are at minimum wage or close to it, she said.

One proposal in the House of Representatives would require businesses with an annual payroll above $250,000 to pay an 8 percent payroll tax if they didn't offer coverage for employees. That would hit Las Vegas Cuban right in the pocketbook.

``Oh my Lord,'' said Vilariño when she heard about that proposal, ``we couldn't survive. The only thing we could do is hike our prices and our customers are already suffering to the max. We are a very budget-priced family enterprise.''

She said she'd like to see ``some kind of middle ground'' in healthcare reform, a compromise between those who believe in an all-government and those who believe in all-private health insurance. ``I love when the people have the right to choose. I came to this country to seek that.''

-- JOHN DORSCHNER

TEW CARDENAS

Offering a quality healthcare plan is a necessity for the Miami law firm Tew Cardenas, said Thomas R. Lehman, managing partner. ``To attract good people in a business like ours, you have to provide top-quality healthcare.''

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