Entrepreneurs are typically optimists. So we're happy to see that Nell Merlino, a savvy entrepreneur and an influential advocate for women entrepreneurs, is upbeat about passage of the health-care overhaul that President Obama signed last week.

"I think ultimately it's going to be a very good thing for small business," says the CEO of Count Me In for Women's Economic Independence and Make Mine a Million $ Business.

"I think it takes away one of the impediments to starting or growing a business," Merlino says. From her perspective, the high cost of insurance won't deter businesses from hiring employees or finding--and keeping--the right employees.

Merlino speaks to women business owners at events across the country. She says she hasn't heard anything negative in her travels. Before the bill passed, "Many said they were hoping it would happen," she adds.

Merlino cites what she sees as several advantages in the bill for the average consumer:

• People won't be able to get thrown off insurance policies for getting sick.
• Pre-existing conditions won't prevent people from getting coverage.

When it comes to businesses, offering health insurance is a way to get better employees and keep better employees, according to Merlino. So giving businesses a way to do that more cheaply--through setting up "insurance exchanges," for example--is positive reform.

"Overall, you end up with a healthier society," Merlino says. "You won't have people walking around who don't have some access to health care. Maybe they'll be using it rather than waiting around until they have to go to an emergency room."

Certainly, she's aware that companies with more than 50 employees will be forced to offer health insurance or pay a penalty. But she points out that the vast majority of American small businesses have fewer than 50 employees.

And the larger businesses shouldn't find offering insurance that much of a hardship. After all, she says, a business with 50 or more employees typically has revenue of $5 million to $10 million. "One of the wonderful things about making that kind of money is, you tend to want to make a contribution to your employees," Merlino says. "One of the things you can offer people to show up day after day is to make sure they and their kids have some way of staying healthy."

Insurance companies should see a benefit, too, she says: In the end, they get 30 million more customers.

Says Merlino, the eternal optimistic, "Change is a good thing."