Frist Presses for Senate Action on Small-Business Concerns
WASHINGTON—In a luncheon address to Summit delegates, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist promised to continue the fight for Small-Business Health Plans (AHPS), an important step toward more affordable health-care choices for consumers and businesses.
Frist conceded that the passage of AHP legislation faces an uphill battle in the Senate, where Republicans maintain a tenuous majority. He solicited the help of NFIB members, urging them to sign the petition for AHPs. (See the link below.)
“We need your help to get the word out about an affordable, patient-centered, provider-driven, physician friendly system,” he said. “AHPs are an idea whose time has come.”
Frist detailed other pro-small-business priorities that he would champion in the Senate, including making tax relief permanent and working toward a fairer, more balanced tort system.
“Small-business owners are overtaxed, over-regulated and over-litigated,” he said. “Class action abuse drives up prices of almost every consumer good. Frivolous lawsuits make us less competitive and prosperous at home.”
As a heart and lung transplant surgeon, Frist is especially frustrated by medical liability abuse. “It’s a national crisis and deserves a national response,” he said. “We have to prevent abuse of the system by trial lawyers.”
Despite the struggle in the Senate, Frist vowed to bring these bills to the floor as many times as it takes. “If we are not successful the first time, we’re going to bring them back over and over again.”
In his introduction to Frist, NFIB President Jack Faris congratulated the senator for winning a Small-Business Guardian award for every Congress in which he has served.
