03/15/2006
Small-Business Owners Hail First-Ever Senate Vote on Vital Legislation for Affordable Health Care
CONTACT: Michael J. Donohue, (202) 554-9000
WASHINGTON, D.C.—Speaking on behalf of The SBHP Coalition, Dan Danner, executive vice president of the National Federation of Independent Business, the nation’s largest small-business group, issued the following statement commenting on today’s vote in the U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor & Pensions Committee to send to the floor S. 1955, “The Health Insurance Marketplace Modernization and Affordability Act of 2006”:
“Today was a good day for small-business owners. We thank Chairman Mike Enzi for his work and leadership, which has brought Small-Business Health Plans, NFIB’s top legislative priority, a major step closer to reality. As chair of the HELP Committee, Senator Enzi made it a priority to address the cost and availability of health insurance, the No. 1 issue for America’s small-business owners, and his bill, co-sponsored with Senator Ben Nelson, goes a long way to providing real relief for small businesses.
“More than 27 million of the uninsured across America are small-business owners, employees or dependents of small businesses with less than 100 employees, and they account for the largest segment of the uninsured population. SBHPs, combined with much-needed competition for the small-group market, will bring more choices for owners facing double-digit rate increases and struggling to afford health insurance for their employees.
“SBHPs will level the health-insurance playing field and give participating small businesses the same buying power as Fortune 500 companies and unions by allowing them to band together through trade and professional associations to purchase affordable health benefits. By joining together across state lines, small employers will enjoy savings from greater bargaining power, economies of scale and administrative efficiencies.
“The SBHP Coalition has worked tirelessly for many years to create Small-Business Health Plans to provide more affordable health coverage options for small-business owners, working legislatively to pass the best possible legislation for our nation’s small job creators. To that end, the coalition worked with pro-small-business lawmakers in the U.S. House of Representatives to pass SBHPs eight times over the past decade, most recently last July. Educating the Senate has proved tougher, which is why small-business owners are all the more grateful for the strong leadership of Senator Enzi and Senator Nelson, as well as Senator Olympia Snowe and Senator Jim Talent, the first leaders of this vital effort in the upper chamber.
“Today, the Senate HELP Committee took a significant step toward ending the health-insurance crisis facing the largest portion of America’s uninsured population – the 27 million men, women and children covered by the small-business community. The SBHP Coalition will not let up now but will intensify its efforts. We urge the full Senate to pass SBHPs, a fair, common-sense and badly needed solution, into law.”
