Taxes may be part of a solution, but don't expect them to solve this problem alone.

In most EU states you pay taxes to provide medical care to employees. If an employee gets sick or otherwise unable to work, you are usually required to continue paying those taxes even if the employee does zero workhours.

The key part to help small businesses is to mitigate their risk of dispropotional cost. Does not matter if it's a tax or any other payable.