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Small Businesses to Oppose Association Health Plan Legislation
Feb 17, 2005

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Washington, D.C. – With ever-increasing health insurance costs and rising numbers of uninsured, small businesses are clamoring for help. As good as Association Health Plans (AHPs) may sound, they stand to significantly harm the small business health care market, and lead to an additional one million uninsured.

Although new legislation has been introduced, AHPs are the same old plan that will hurt small businesses and their employees, a result the Small Business Coalition for Equitable Health Insurance seeks to avoid. Under the legislation, associations would be able to sell insurance across state lines, circumventing existing state rules and oversight. With practically no federal oversight, no rating rules and no benefit standards built into the bill, the potential for AHPs to cherry-pick the healthier individuals is huge.

"The fundamental problem remains unaddressed: how do we lower the overall cost of health care," said Todd McCracken, president of the National Small Business Association, a coalition member. "AHPs don't do it."

Though AHPs will reduce costs for some small businesses, the overwhelming majority of small businesses will see premium increases of up to 23 percent, according to a report by Mercer Risk, Finance & Insurance Consulting. Small businesses deserve better than the cost-shifting schemes under AHP legislation, and the coalition will continue to let Congress know that AHPs are not only bad for small businesses, but all around bad public policy.

The Small Business Coalition for Equitable Health Insurance is comprised of local, state, regional and national small businesses organizations and Chambers of commerce. We have been working to bring to light the hundreds of thousands of small business owners who do NOT support AHPs. Boasting a membership of recognized small business health care experts, our coalition urges the Senate to reject AHPs and continue their search for a true fix to the small business health care crisis.

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