Venture to Improve the Health of Small Business
Contact: Michelle Dimarob, (202)-554-9000
Today, as NFIB kicked off its 2004 National Small Business Summit, the nation’s largest small-business group announced a strategic alliance with American General Life and Accident Insurance Company (AGLA), a member company of American International Group, Inc. (AIG) to develop a program designed to meet the health-care and supplementary voluntary benefits needs of its 600,000 members.
“While there is growing need to pass and implement Small-Business Health Plans (SBHPs, also known as Association Health Plans or AHPs), we know it is a legislative education and outreach campaign that will take time,” said NFIB president and CEO Jack Faris. “In the meantime, health-care costs have become a critical problem for small business. In order to further address this concern, it’s crucial that small-business owners have a level playing field. SBHPs will provide that. AGLA will work together with NFIB to help make SBHPs a reality. Starting today, we are building the comprehensive benefits plans America’s small-business owners desperately need, so that accessible, affordable health care is available. Together, NFIB and AGLA can create a solution that is fair to small-business owners and their employees.”
AIG Chairman M. R. Greenberg said, “AIG supports the enactment of legislation to implement Small-Business Health Plans. The availability of association health plans and supplementary voluntary benefits will help small businesses meet the challenge of providing comprehensive healthcare to their employees. We are pleased that AGLA will be working with NFIB through this strategic business alliance.”
Ultimately, the NFIB program will include a full menu of healthcare and supplementary voluntary benefits options such as Health Savings Accounts (HSAs), Health Reimbursement Accounts (HRAs), cancer and critical illness insurance, accident and disability insurance, a limited medical coverage, and other value added products and services for small-business employers and employees. NFIB and AGLA have also agreed to work together to develop an easy-to-use and easy-to-access Small-Business Health Plan program once the Small Business Health Fairness Act is passed and signed into law.
Beginning in July, NFIB and AGLA will rollout pilot programs in selected states that include AGLA’s supplementary voluntary benefits products designed for NFIB members. By the end of 2004, NFIB member owners and their employees will also have access to additional AGLA products and services available through this “NFIB members only” program. NFIB members currently have access to AIG company property and casualty products designed for small-business owners.
The passage of the Small Business Health Fairness Act will remain the No. 1 legislative priority of NFIB’s health care agenda. A recent survey of NFIB’s small-business owners found that nearly two-thirds of small-business owners cite health-care costs as the “most critical” issue they face as small-business owners – the highest the issue has ever ranked in the history of the survey. More than 25 million of the nation’s uninsured are small-business owners, employees or dependents of small businesses with less than 100 employees, and they are the largest segment of the uninsured population.
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The National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) is the nation’s largest small-business advocacy group. A nonprofit, nonpartisan organization founded in 1943, NFIB represents the consensus views of its 600,000 members in Washington and all 50 state capitals. NFIB’s 2004 National Small Business Summit will be held June 16-18 in Washington, D.C. More information is available on-line at www.NFIB.com/summit.
American General Life and Accident Insurance Company is a member company of American International Group, Inc.(AIG). AIG is, the world’s leading international insurance and financial services organization, with operations in more than 130 countries and jurisdictions. AIG member companies serve commercial, institutional and individual customers through the most extensive worldwide property-casualty and life insurance networks of any insurer. In the United States, AIG companies are the largest underwriters of commercial and industrial insurance and AIG American General is a top-ranked life insurer. AIG’s global businesses also include financial services, retirement services and asset management.
