[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 48 (Wednesday, April 20, 2005)]
[Senate]
[Page S4012]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               SMALL BUSINESS HEALTH FAIRNESS ACT OF 2005

  Mr. COLEMAN. Mr. President, of the 27 million working uninsured, 63 
percent are working in firms with fewer than 100 employees. It is 
crucial that we develop a comprehensive plan to remedy the problem of 
the working uninsured. For this reason I support legislation that would 
allow for the creation of association health plans, which would allow 
small businesses to band together to purchase health insurance for 
their employees.
  Because of the current structure of the health care industry, too 
many small business owners and their employees do not have access to 
affordable health insurance. When I talk to small business owners as I 
travel the State, I have found that most of them want to provide this 
benefit because it not only helps provide the uninsured with coverage 
but it also helps small businesses retain good employees.
  A recent Census Bureau report says slightly more than 45 million 
Americans now lack health coverage. While Minnesota is out front in 
tackling the issue of the uninsured, with uninsured in my State at 
about 7 percent, I still believe that providing affordable access to 
health care is a critically important national interest, that there are 
no silver bullet solutions, and so we need as many tools to fix this 
problem as possible. According to Kaiser Family Foundation, employer-
based health insurance has decreased markedly from covering 66 percent 
of the non-elderly in 2000 to 62 percent by 2003. The Census Bureau 
says the drop-off in employer health coverage occurred in the small 
business sector, largely in firms with fewer than 25 employees. It's no 
coincidence that these events are taking place as the cost of insurance 
continues to skyrocket double-digit increases year after year, pricing 
more and more small firms out of the market.
  I want to thank the chairwoman of the Small Business Committee, 
Senator Snowe, for her strong leadership and sponsorship of S. 406, The 
Small Business Health Fairness Act of 2005. I also want to thank my 
very good friend and colleague, Senator Jim Talent of Missouri, who has 
long championed this issue in the same thoughtful and forward looking 
way that he is renowned for in tackling all important public policy 
issues in which he gets engaged. I look forward to working with members 
of the committee to enact this legislation.

                          ____________________