07/28/2005
CONTACT: Michelle Dimarob, (202) 554-9000
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The National Federation of Independent Business, the nation’s largest small-business advocacy group, today praised legislation passed by the U.S. House of Representatives that is aimed at increasing the affordability and availability of health care for America’s small businesses. The Help Efficient, Accessible, Low-Cost, Timely Healthcare (HEALTH) Act of 2005 (H.R. 5) passed the House 230-194.
Commenting on passage of the HEALTH Act, Dan Danner, NFIB Executive Vice President offered the following statement:
“The Help Efficient, Accessible, Low-Cost, Timely Healthcare (HEALTH) Act of 2005 restores common sense to our medical malpractice litigation system -- one that takes a particularly heavy toll on NFIB members' ability to access affordable health care for their employees and dependents. The legislation makes two vital reforms to our current medical liability system: it caps non-economic damages at $250,000 and abolishes joint and several liability, ensuring that parties in a lawsuit will only be liable for damages in direct proportion to their percentage of responsibility. This bill will help end the practice of defensive medicine by greatly reducing the threat of frivolous lawsuits and would help make health insurance more affordable.”
Earlier in the week, members of the U.S. House were informed that the final tally on both the recently passed Small Business Health Fairness Act of 2005 (H.R. 525) and the Help Efficient, Accessible, Low-Cost, Timely Healthcare (HEALTH) Act of 2005 (H.R. 5) would be considered NFIB “Key Votes.” As such, the final tallies on both votes will be sent to all 600,000 NFIB members as part of the group’s How Congress Voted scorebook just before the 2006 elections.
A nationwide survey sponsored by NFIB in 2004 found that 66 percent of all voters stated that they would be “definitely” or “more likely” to vote for the candidate supported by small business and NFIB.
