Association Health Plans Gain Attention in the U.S. Senate

Release Date: 5/11/2004

Coalition Statement Calls on Senate to Pass AHP Legislation: "We are strongly encouraged by steps the Republican Uninsured Taskforce has taken to address the needs of uninsured small-business owners, employees and their families by including Association Health Plans (AHPs) in their outline of ideas and solutions to make health care a reality for uninsured Americans. "More than 25 million of the uninsured are small-business owners, employees or dependents of small businesses with less than 100 employees. They are the faces of the uninsured we see every day and account for the largest sector of the uninsured. "AHPs are a viable solution for small businesses seeking affordable health care. The plans would allow employers to band together to buy health insurance. As a result, small employers would enjoy greater bargaining power, economies of scale, savings of 13 to 25 percent on premiums (Congressional Budget Office, 2000), and as much as a 30 percent reduction in overhead costs. AHPs would simply put small business on a level playing field so they could enjoy the same quality, affordable health care that big business, big labor and big government do today. "According to a recent survey from the Federation of American Hospitals, 93 percent of Americans support AHPs as a way to provide affordable health insurance to millions of uninsured workers and their families. A diverse, broad and growing coalition of more than 170 organizations, representing over 12 million employers and 80 million American workers support AHP legislation. "America's small-business owners build our homes, grow our food and fix our cars, but they can't, by themselves, repair our health-care crisis. That is up to the U.S. Congress. Despite the fact that the U.S. House has passed this legislation six times, and the President has publicly stated he will sign such a bill, the Senate still has not acted to pass AHPs. If the Senate can turn their words into actions and pass AHP legislation, they will be taking a significant step closer to making quality, affordable health care a reality for small-business owners, employees and their families."