Snowe Applauds House Passage of

Snowe Applauds House Passage of AHP Bill

Release Date: 5/13/2004

Coming against the backdrop of "Cover the Uninsured Week" and the release of recommendations by the Senate Republican Task Force on the Uninsured, Senator Olympia J. Snowe, (R-Maine) applauded today's passage of H.R. 4281, a bill to create Association Health Plans (AHPs) by the House. The vote marked the second time during this Congress that AHP-enabling legislation has been approved by House lawmakers.

"By passing this bill a second time with a strong bipartisan vote, the House has made it clear this legislation has broad support and should be enacted. The Senate must act to give small firms more and better choices for providing insurance to their employees," said Snowe, Chair of the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship.

"We need to pass an AHP bill as a starting point in solving the health care crisis facing our nation's employed but uninsured. With an estimated 43 million Americans uninsured, this crisis has reached epidemic proportions."

This week has been designated "Cover the Uninsured Week" to help focus attention on exploring solutions to the growing problem of the uninsured. Snowe served on a task force of Republican Senators, which on Tuesday released a set of proposals designed to reduce the ranks of the uninsured, trim costs in the health care system, and strengthen programs for those without insurance. Among the proposals the Task Force recommended was the Senate's AHP bill, "The Small Business Health Fairness Act," S. 545, which Snowe introduced in March, 2003.

As an illustration of growing support for approval of AHPs, Snowe has confirmed that Senator Robert C. Byrd, (D-WV) this week joined as an cosponsor to S.545, making the Senate's most-senior member the first Democrat co-sponsor of her AHP bill.

"I am thrilled to pick up the support of Senator Byrd," Snowe said. "His decision to co-sponor this bill, combined with his status and leadership in the Senate, lays to rest any doubt that this is a sound, reasonable approach to deal with the crisis confronting small businesses trying to find affordable health insurance for their employees."

H.R. 4281 is identical to an earlier AHP bill, H.R. 660 which was passed by the House in June 2003. Today's second vote was taken to emphasize the desire in the House to win final approval of AHP legislation in the Senate and send the bill to President Bush. Snowe introduced S.545 to give small businesses the same market-based advantages and competitive leverage that large employers and unions enjoy when providing employees health insurance.

AHPs are part of the President Bush's small business agenda and an integral part of his plan to deal with the problem of the uninsured. He called on Congress to pass legislation allowing AHPs during his last State of the Union Address and has said: "It makes no sense in America to isolate small businesses as little health care islands unto themselves. We must have Association Health Plans. . . ."

Prior to the House action today, pressure to finally pass AHP legislation in the Senate has continued to build. A recent report by the Commonwealth Fund confirmed that small businesses pay more and get less in the insurance market than large businesses. The report, released April 28, found that small firms, identified as those employing 3-199 workers, experienced greater annual premium increases than large firms between 1989 and 2003. Small firms saw their premiums increase by 15.5 percent from 2002 to 2003, compared with 13.2 percent for firms with more than 200 workers.

"Clearly, most families, particularly those running their own small business or dependent on employment by a small enterprise, cannot endure yearly, double-digit increases in their health insurance," Snowe said.

Under S.545, small businesses would be able to pool together on a national basis through trade associations, and either purchase their health insurance from a provider, or self insure in the same way that large employers and unions currently do. Studies by the Small Business Administration, the General Accounting Office, and the Congressional Budget Office have all found that AHPs would operate with between 13 percent and 30 percent lower administrative costs than traditional small group plans.