Copyright 1999 Federal Document Clearing House, Inc.
Federal Document Clearing House Congressional Testimony
June 10, 1999
SECTION: CAPITOL HILL HEARING TESTIMONY
LENGTH: 688 words
HEADLINE:
TESTIMONY June 10, 1999 JIM TALENT CHAIRMAN HOUSE SMALL
BUSINESS ASSOCIATIONN HEALTH PLANS AND SMALL BUSINESSES
BODY:
Opening Statement of Committee Chairman Jim
Talent Good morning Ladies and Gentlemen, and welcome. Thank you for joining me
this morning. The purpose of this hearing is to address a major concern of the
small business community-- the difficulty of finding affordable
health insurance, and to discuss Association
Health Plans as a means of helping small business owners and
employees gain much-needed access to affordable, quality health
benefits. With over 60% of the 43 million uninsured Americans
owning a small business, employed by a small business, or the dependent of an
employer or employee, the need for increased access to health
insurance options for small business becomes even more apparent. When I talk to
small business owners about their health care difficulties, I
get a consistent response: Health insurance is simply too
expensive for the average small business owner to purchase. This is especially
distressing when coupled with the fact that some 64% of Americans rely on
employer-based health insurance. Workers in small businesses
are suffering because health insurance continues to be too
expensive for their employers to purchase. This problem will continue to affect
more and more small business workers, especially since the percent of jobs
created by small businesses and the number employed by small businesses
continues to rise. We must find a way to accommodate these hard-working people
and provide them with the health coverage they deserve.
Association Health Plans would allow small businesses to
utilize a familiar, dependable resource when purchasing health
benefits-- their trade association. AHPs would allow small businesses to
combine, through these trade associations, to obtain the same economies of
scale, purchasing clout, and administrative efficiency, that large businesses
currently enjoy when purchasing health insurance. A study by
the CONSAD Research Corporation found that AHPs would substantially increase the
number of people with health insurance. They estimated that as
many as 8 million people would gain coverage as a result of AHPs. AHPs would not
only reduce the number of uninsured, they would also aid small
businesses who have health insurance, by enabling them to offer
better benefits at a lower cost and with less of an administrative burden.
Congress has a responsibility to the 43 million uninsured
Americans to explore ways of expanding access to health
coverage. I believe Association Health Plans are a step in the
right direction for small businesses. That is why I, along with my colleague
from California, Cal Dooley, introduced the Small Business Access and Choice for
Entrepreneurs Act of 1999, legislation which would allow small employers to
offer coverage to their employees through AHPs. Representative Dooley and I are
joined by many of my distinguished colleagues on this Committee in support of
the ACE Act. The ACE Act has overwhelming endorsement from many associations,
who recognize the benefit its enactment would have for their members. The ACE
Act would allow small business owners to work with their associations to design
flexible, affordable benefit packages that meet the needs of the small business
community and their respective industries. It would also allow small business
owners to take an immediate 100% deduction of the costs incurred in providing
health benefits, something large businesses are currently able
to do. The ACE Act is a viable, market-based approach to providing affordable
high quality, private sector health coverage to workers
employed by small businesses. Today we are privileged to have before us a
diverse panel of witnesses. I am confident that through their testimony, they
will be able to give the Committee Members valuable insight about the role
Association Health Plans would play in both increasing the
number of small businesses who can afford health insurance, and
lessening the administrative ordeal many small businesses face in purchasing
health insurance individually. I now turn to my distinguished
colleague, Ms. Velazquez, for any opening comments she would like to make.
LOAD-DATE: June 11, 1999 
