Nicole Riley, state director of NFIB/Virginia, said today that the commonwealth’s leading small-business association is urging Governor McAuliffe to sign H.B. 685.

The legislation would help small businesses and others find affordable health care by clarifying that direct primary care agreements are service contracts, not insurance plans.

“This is a big deal for small businesses,” Riley said. “Year after year, when we’ve asked our members what issue concerns them most, they’ve said access to affordable health care. HB 685 will go a long way to addressing those concerns.

“This legislation is going to help small-business owners, their employees and their families by taking an innovative approach to primary care,” Riley said.

“What it does is define direct primary care agreements as medical service agreements outside the scope of state insurance regulation,” Riley said. “Direct primary care offers consumers an affordable membership based payment model for primary care services.

“This legislation had strong bipartisan support in the General Assembly,” Riley said. “We’re encouraging Governor McAuliffe to listen to the voice of the people and sign H.B. 685 into law.”

NFIB/Virginia is the commonwealth’s leading small-business association with over 6,000 dues-paying members representing a cross section of Virginia’s economy. Learn more at www.NFIB.com/VA or follow @NFIB_VA on Twitter.