Bipartisan Small Business Health Bill Would Reduce Costs, Help Small Business and Working Families (Sen. Mike Enzi)
April 3rd, 2008
Sen. Enzi is chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee.
Today, I introduced the “Small Business Health Plans Act of 2008,” bipartisan legislation that would expand access to affordable health care by allowing small businesses and working families to pool together and negotiate the health insurance plans they need at prices they can afford.
We need to do something – anything – about our nation’s health care crisis. Small businesses and working families are struggling to stay afloat amid rising health care costs, and it is past time for Congress to throw them a life preserver. Small business health plans are one step toward making sure that every American has access to affordable health coverage
Small business health plans (SBHPs) are a key part of my comprehensive health care reform bill, “10 Steps to Transform Health Care in America,” S. 1783, which builds on market-based solutions to ensure that every American has access to affordable, quality health care. (For more information on S. 1783, please visit my website).
I broke my comprehensive bill down into steps that Congress can pass one at a time, knowing that each step alone could likely receive broad support. Congress could act on any one of these steps today, starting with small business health plans, and see real results tomorrow to improve health care for all Americans. If we can pass every step, we can ensure affordable access to quality health care for every American.
I am confident that if we work together, we can find an agreement on small business health plans and market-based pooling this year, and provide real relief for Americans struggling to pay their health care costs. I always believe that we can agree on 80 percent of the issues and on 80 percent of each issue, and if we can focus on that 80 percent, we can get results. I am going to keep working with my colleagues and with stakeholders to find the 80 percent and reach an agreement on small business health plans.
I would like to thank Senator Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) and Senator Judd Gregg (R-N.H.) for co-sponsoring this important bill.
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