One business' alternative to a health plan

SALEM, Ore. - The Indigo Wellness Center is all about good health. Ironically, its employees are not offered health insurance. 

"Sure I'd like health insurance," said one center employee. "But I can understand, with the cost of it, why I'm not getting it."

The owner of Indigo Wellness Center, Zohra Campbell, said she simply can't afford it. "It's a hard issue for a lot of small business people," Campbell said. 

Between 2001 and 2007, health insurance premiums grew by 78 percent. Compare that to the 19 percent growth in wages, and you see the problem. 

The cost of health insurance, echoes massage therapist Vicki McLean, is "almost breathtaking." A licensed therapist at Indigo, McLean pays more than $800 a month for health insurance. "I'm very grateful I'm one of the people who has insurance," she said, "but it is a huge chunk of change."

To keep employees healthy, Indigo does offer free yoga and pilates classes, chiropractic care and time-off when needed. Employees said these benefits help reduce stress and boost their immune system, keeping them from taking as many sick days. Though not full insurance, the benefits are still "very helpful" to employees like Celina Brost.

"It keeps me more fit; it keeps me relaxed," said Brost, a chiropractic assistant there. "I find myself not getting as sick as much because of it."

Still Campbell would like to offer her employees health insurance. She's said she's hoping President Obama will pursue a basic system that includes preventative care. 

"If everybody had that basic coverage then we as a nation would be healthier," Campbell said, "and we wouldn't have as many excuses with diabetes and obesity and issues like that."