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Association Health Plans Approved by the House

Legislation that would allow as many as 2 million working families who are currently uninsured to obtain health coverage and would help alleviate skyrocketing health care costs facing America’s small businesses and their employees passed the House last week with the endorsement of NAHB.

H.R. 660, the “Small Business Health Fairness Act,” “provides the right remedy by allowing small businesses to band together through associations to purchase quality health care at a lower cost,” said NAHB President Kent Conine.

The bill, which would enable small businesses to lower health costs and provide new coverage options, has received strong support from the Bush Administration.

Labor Secretary Elaine Chao said that the association health plans that the legislation would create are “a centerpiece of President Bush’s agenda to expand health insurance opportunities for all Americans” and that they would reduce the number of uninsured workers in the country.

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Two days before the vote, NAHB participated in a press event on Capitol Hill hosted by the bill’s original co-sponsors — Reps. Cal Dooley (D-CA), Ernie Fletcher (R-KY), Sam Johnson (R-TX) and Nydia Velázquez (D-NY).

On the eve of the vote, NAHB sent a letter to every member of the House urging them to support the bill.

The legislation was approved by a vote of 262-162.

A new survey by the Center for Studying Health System Change shows that health care costs rose nearly 10% and that health insurance premiums climbed by 15% last year, which was the largest annual jump in more than a decade.

Association health plans could help home builders and other small businesses reduce their health insurance costs by an estimated 15%-30%.

To read this legislation, click here, and enter H.R. 660 into the box at the upper left.
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