Masonry Magazine October 2002 Page. 13
They also have a vested interest in preventing AHPs from bringing new competition into the marketplace.
State insurance commissions, which currently regulate insurance providers, are hesitant to give regulatory control to the federal government. As a former governor, I can appreciate their reluctance. However, it is now clear to me that the current system is failing those most in need, and we must do right by small businesses and their employees.
Legislation creating national AHPs, the "Small Business Health Fairness Act" (S. 858), was introduced in the Senate and I am proud to be a co-sponsor. The House included identical provisions in H.R. 2563, the "Bipartisan Patient Protection Act." Both bills require associations offering insurance plans to meet specific solvency requirements modeled after those already in place in many states. Furthermore, both bills would prohibit insurers from denying coverage to any member of an association because of an employee's health status or past claims. This safeguard is essential in order to prevent insurance companies from cherry picking-or offering coverage to association members with healthy employees while rejecting those with employees having preexisting health problems a patently illegal practice.
Leaving behind 24 million employed but uninsured Americans is tragic, shameful, and inexcusable. Small employers who are willing to provide health insurance for their employees can be an integral part of the cure for this plague. But first, Congress must end the virtual monopoly some insurance providers enjoy, which leaves employees of small businesses caught between a rock and a hard place-no health coverage at all or second-class coverage at rates beyond their reach.
The burden is squarely on the Senate to pass legislation creating AHPs so that it can be merged with the bill that has already been approved by the House and that lays the necessary groundwork.
With AHPs, a potential 24 million employees and their families stand to gain better health benefits at better costs. AHPs offer a radically-simple solution to the problems of the employed but uninsured, which will give single mothers, first-generation Americans and two-worker families access to high-quality, affordable health plans.
This is a reasonable, common sense plan that can make health insurance household words for working families. It is time we do right by the nation's employed but uninsured by making AHPs a reality for small business on a national scale. I am committed to bringing Fortune 500 health benefits to America's Main Street small businesses and their employees.
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