NFIB

HB 2698 now heads to governor

The Arizona House of Representatives gave final approval April 20 of HB 2698, a bill commonly referred to as mandate-lite. 

In particular, HB 2698 would allow private health-insurance carriers to offer a flexible benefits program to small businesses who:

• Have between 2 to 50 employees; and
• Have been uninsured for at least six months.

NFIB/Arizona advocated for this consumer driven health care, as it allows consumers to tailor a plan that best fits their needs.  It also will bring previously uninsured people in to the insured market by making coverage more affordable. HB 2698 gives uninsured small businesses something rather than having nothing at all in the way of health insurance.

HB 2698 will be sent to the governor for consideration.

House of Representatives vote tally, April 20, 2006.

Member Name	Vote	Member Name	Vote	Member Name	Vote
Kirk Adams	Y	Amanda Aguirre	Y	John M. Allen	Y
Manuel V. "Manny" Alvarez	N	Mark Anderson	Y	Ray Barnes	Y
Nancy K. Barto	Y	Andy Biggs	Y	Tom Boone	Y
David T. Bradley	N	Jack A. Brown	Y	Judy Burges	Y
Jennifer J. Burns	Y	Meg Burton Cahill	N	Olivia Cajero Bedford	N
Ted Carpenter	N	Cheryl Chase	Y	Ted Downing	N
Eddie Farnsworth	Y	Steve Gallardo	N	Martha Garcia	N
Pamela Gorman	Y	Trish Groe	Y	Pete Hershberger	Y
Steve Huffman	NV	Russell L. Jones	Y	Ann Kirkpatrick	NV
Laura Knaperek	Y	Bill Konopnicki	Y	Leah Landrum Taylor	N
Phil Lopes	N	Linda Lopez	N	David M. Lujan	N
Lucy Mason	Y	Marian A. McClure	Y	John McComish	Y
Debbie McCune Davis	N	Nancy G. McLain	Y	Robert Meza	Y
Ben R. Miranda	N	Rick Murphy	Y	John B. Nelson	Y
Warde Nichols	Y	Tom O'Halleran	Y	Jonathan Paton	Y
Russell K. Pearce	Y	Gary L. Pierce	Y	Tom Prezelski	N
Doug Quelland	Y	Michele Reagan	Y	Pete Rios	Y
Bob Robson	Y	Colette Rosati	Y	Kyrsten Sinema	N
Bob Stump	Y	Albert Tom	N	Stephen Tully	Y
Jerry P. Weiers	Y	Steven B. Yarbrough	Y	James P. Weiers	Y