[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 57 (Wednesday, May 11, 1994)]
[House]
[Page H]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: May 11, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
   CLINTON HEALTH CARE PLAN WOULD BENEFIT SMALL BUSINESSES AND SELF-
                                EMPLOYED

  (Ms. DeLAURO asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, the National Federation of Independent 
Businesses is in Washington this week to lobby against President 
Clinton's health care reform bill. But, by opposing health care reform, 
the NFIB hurts the very same small businesses they claim to represent. 
What they fail to take into account is what small businesses are facing 
today.
  Today, health care costs for small businesses are rising at a rate of 
20 to 50 percent per year. The President's plan will offer small 
business discounts and institute premium caps to control costs.
  Today, many small business owners can only afford bare-bones 
insurance coverage for their employees. The Clinton plan will offer 
small businesses a comprehensive benefit package.
  Today, small businesses are susceptible to insurance company abuses, 
such as occupational redlining and preexisting condition exclusions. 
The Clinton plan will outlaw these abuses.
  Today, the self-employed are only allowed a 25-percent deduction on 
health care costs while everybody else is entitled a 100-percent 
deduction. That is unfair. Under the Clinton plan the self-employed 
will get the full 100 percent deduction.
  Our current health care system is bad for small business. But, we 
need to reform it, not rebuild it. That is why the President put 
together a plan that builds on our current system of shared 
responsibility between employer and employee. It is a system that will 
help small businesses control costs and cover employees.

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