[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 13 (Wednesday, February 9, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E198]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   THE SELF-EMPLOYED H.E.A.L.T.H. ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. LORETTA SANCHEZ

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, February 9, 2005

  Ms. LORETTA SANCHEZ of California. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to 
introduce the Self-Employed H.E.A.L.T.H. Act, a bill that repeals 
Section 162(l) paragraph 4 of the Internal Revenue Code, and allows 
self-employed individuals to deduct the cost of health insurance in 
computing net earnings from self-employment for tax purposes.
  Under current law, self-employed individuals do not share the same 
tax advantages for health insurance as other wage earners who work for 
large companies and government agencies. These wage earners can 
participate in plans that allow them to pay for their health insurance 
with pre-tax dollars. This legislation will provide self-employed 
workers the same benefits afforded to wage earners who work for large 
companies, which, in turn, will help them purchase health insurance. 
The National Federation of Independent Business has stated that 
allowing the self-employed to purchase health care pre-tax dollars will 
help to reduce the number of uninsured Americans.
  There are over 16 million sole proprietorships in the United States. 
Self-employed workers represent 7 percent of the U.S. workforce. In the 
United States, employers play the leading role in making health 
insurance coverage available to workers, retirees, and their families. 
Two-thirds of Americans get their health insurance through an employer. 
For sole proprietors and other Americans, health care coverage poses a 
significant challenge.
  Americans have always admired those who strike out on their own. They 
are the innovators and the entrepreneurs. We should encourage this 
activity by providing self-employed workers the opportunity to purchase 
health care as affordably as those who work for others.

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