[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 13]
[House]
[Pages 17156-17157]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                        ASSOCIATION HEALTH PLANS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the order of the House of 
January 4, 2005, the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Fitzpatrick) is 
recognized during morning hour debates for 5 minutes.
  Mr. FITZPATRICK. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to address the issue of 
health care insurance in America, its rising costs and a solution that 
will help to reduce the cost for many Americans. Our Nation is in the 
midst of a health care crisis. This crisis affects Pennsylvania's 
health care professionals, their patients and the doctor-patient 
relationship. This crisis is especially acute in my district in 
Southeastern Pennsylvania.
  Last week I held a small business committee forum in my district. The 
health care crisis and how it affects small businesses was the topic of 
the forum. The gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Manzullo) was kind enough 
to come to the forum and to apply his many years of experience to the 
issue, and I thank the gentleman for his contribution and for his 
insights.
  Pennsylvania's health care problems are among the worst in the 
Nation. Doctors in Pennsylvania are faced with some of the highest 
medical malpractice insurance rates in the country. Because they cannot 
afford to pay for malpractice insurance, many Pennsylvania physicians 
are practicing defensive medicine or simply shutting their doors, 
moving to other states or retiring. Young doctors establishing a new 
practice are reluctant to consider Pennsylvania because of malpractice 
insurance problems.
  Over 50 percent of Pennsylvanians say their family has had difficulty 
in paying the cost of health care or obtaining health insurance 
coverage. Since 2001, the cost of health insurance has risen 59 
percent, and employers who offer health care benefits are paying an 
average of 11 percent more for health insurance premiums than they did 
in 2004. This is the fourth year in a row of double digit increases 
with no end in sight.
  From a national perspective, the statistics are staggering. The Labor 
Department has recently reported that 3.7 million new jobs were created 
since May of 2003, marking 25 consecutive months of positive job growth 
for the U.S. economy. Unfortunately, there are 41 million Americans who 
are without health care insurance. Nearly 60 percent of the 41 million 
uninsured Americans are employed by small businesses or are dependent 
on someone who is employed by a small business. As health care costs 
continue to increase, fewer employers and working families will be able 
to obtain coverage, and the number of uninsured will inevitably rise. 
For a Nation of the 21st Century, and in a country that boasts the 
world's largest and most productive economy, this is simply 
unacceptable.
  The skyrocketing cost of health care is making employer-sponsored 
health coverage harder and harder for businesses, especially small 
businesses, to provide to their employees. This fact makes it nearly 
impossible for many hard working families to receive affordable care 
that they need and deserve.

[[Page 17157]]

  I am proud to say the House Republicans have a plan to increase and 
improve America's access to affordable and high quality health care. 
Association Health Plans will help employers, especially small business 
owners, afford quality health care for their employees and their 
families, will improve the quality of life and provide much needed 
health security. AHPs address both health care access and cost by 
allowing small businesses to create associations that may jointly 
purchase health insurance for their workers at a lower cost.
  Specifically, AHPs establish eligibility requirements so that all 
AHPs are required to offer fully-insured and/or self-insured benefits. 
AHPs encourage broad participation and coverage by prohibiting 
discrimination of any kind against certain ``high-risk'' individuals. 
AHPs will cover specific diseases, maternal and newborn hospitalization 
and mental health issues. AHPs will be exempt from costly and 
burdensome state health insurance regulations to enable greater and 
more effective coverage. AHPs will be financially strong and 
responsible by reserving enough funds for potential costs and other 
obligations.
  AHPs have enjoyed the support of a wide coalition, including the U.S. 
Chamber of Commerce, the National Federation of Independent Businesses, 
the American Farm Bureau, the Associated Builders and Contractors, the 
Latino Coalition, the National Black Chamber of Commerce, the National 
Association of Women Business Owners and the National Restaurant 
Association.
  These organizations have endorsed AHPs because AHPs will reduce 
health insurance costs for employers. For example, insurers selling 
directly to small employers typically incur administrative costs of 20 
to 25 percent. By contrast, the Congressional Budget Office has 
estimated that small businesses that obtain insurance through AHPs will 
save an average of 13 percent. Other estimates have indicated cost 
savings could be as much as 25 percent. AHPs will significantly reduce 
the number of uninsured Americans. AHPs, according to a study by the 
Research Corporation, estimates that up to 8.5 million uninsured 
workers and dependents could gain coverage from AHP legislation. And 
this study confirms even a small cost savings can result in large 
increases in purchasing power for all of our small businesses. The CBO 
has concluded, Mr. Speaker, that Association Health Plan legislation 
would extend insurance coverage for up to two million uninsured 
American workers with no cost to the government.
  I encourage my colleagues to support the Small Business Health 
Insurance Act, H.R. 525, when it comes to the floor this week.

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