If deployed in the right balance, reform measures could save companies up to $3,000 per employee by 2019, according to the report, which was commissioned by the Roundtable but crafted by Hewitt Associates, a consulting firm, CongressDaily<\/a> reports. A roundtable official said cost-control is the top priority for big companies. Meanwhile, another business group, the Employment Policies Institute, launched a television ad arguing that the reform plans “will make this (debt) crisis worse” (Edney and Hunt, 11\/12). <\/p>\n Smaller businesses, on the other hand, are concerned about being able to offer low-cost insurance to their employees in the first place, TIME<\/a> reports. Though lawmakers have crafted proposals overtly targeted at small business, “business groups like the Chamber and the NFIB vehemently oppose the public option. The Chamber says it would pay below-cost reimbursement rates, leading doctors and hospitals to charge private insurers (and the employers who purchase coverage from them) more to make up the difference. But even if that were true \u2014 and there are many observers who say this fear is overblown \u2014 it’s not clear that small-business owners would be the ones to suffer” (Pickert, 11\/13). <\/p>\n