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House Workforce Committee Chair Encourages Continued Action on a Senate Health Care Access Bill

House Approved Measure to Establish Association Health Plans Last Year

WASHINGTON, D.C. – House Education & the Workforce Committee Chairman Howard P. “Buck” McKeon (R-CA) today encouraged further Senate action on legislation to create health plans that would allow small businesses to band together and provide quality health care at a lower cost to their workers.  The Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee today advanced a measure aimed to improve access to health care.

In July 2005, the House overwhelmingly backed the Small Business Health Fairness Act (H.R. 525), legislation to expand access to quality health care for millions of working families by creating association health plans (AHPs).  Three dozen House Democrats supported the legislation.

“Senate committee action is an important step forward for congressional efforts on behalf of uninsured working American families,” said McKeon.  “With 45 million Americans living without health insurance, the time for action is long overdue.  The House has consistently supported legislation to expand health care access for American families, and I’m hopeful the Senate will continue moving ahead as well.”

The U.S. Census Bureau announced last summer that 1.4 million more Americans were without health insurance compared to the previous year.  More than 60 percent of these uninsured Americans either work for a small business or are dependent upon someone who does.  The House-backed Small Business Health Fairness Act would create AHPs to increase small businesses’ bargaining power with health care providers, give them freedom from costly state-mandated benefit packages, and lower their overhead costs by as much as 30 percent – benefits that large corporations and unions already enjoy because of their larger economies of scale.

“I encourage the Senate to seize the momentum created by today’s committee vote and see a bill through to final passage,” concluded McKeon.  “A bipartisan majority of the House and I stand ready to work with the Senate on a common sense measure to expand health care access for scores of American families.”

A broad and diverse coalition of more than 160 groups have endorsed association health plans, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the National Federation of Independent Business, the American Farm Bureau Federation, the Associated Builders and Contractors, The Latino Coalition, National Black Chamber of Commerce, the National Association of Women Business Owners, and the National Restaurant Association. For more information about Association Health Plans and the broad coalition that supports AHPs, please visit the website http://www.ahpsnow.com/.

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