Washington, D.C. – The Senate voted 96-2 today to begin debate of a landmark bill that would allow business and trade associations to band together across the nation and offer affordable group health insurance to working families, U.S. Senator Mike Enzi, R-Wyo., Chairman of the Senate Health Education Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee said.
Yesterday healthcare reform opponents shut down efforts to debate measures that would have limited what doctors would pay injured patients for pain and suffering in malpractice lawsuits, but today opponents stepped aside for Enzi’s bill. The Health Insurance Marketplace Modernization and Affordability Act,” S.1955, now moves forward the next step on the Senate floor.
“Today’s vote is a major step toward providing more affordable health insurance options for small business and working families,” Enzi said “The people who make up the bedrock of our economy – small, family owned businesses, have issued a mandate for change. It’s time for the Senate to pass this bill. No more excuses.”
The bipartisan bill, “The Health Insurance Marketplace Modernization and Affordability Act,” S.1955, which was introduced by Enzi and cosponsored by Senator Ben Nelson, D-Neb., and Senator Conrad Burns R-Mont., would allow business and trade associations to band their members together and offer group health coverage on a national or regional basis in direct response to runaway costs that are driving far too many employers and families from comprehensive health insurance.
Enzi is attempting to navigate the bill through procedural channels toward a final vote on the Senate floor, but before he could get started opponents objected to proceeding to the bill. Now that the Senate has agreed to debate the bill, Enzi is seeking an agreement to allow amendments to be offered and to set a timeframe for a final vote.
Small Business Health Plans (SBHP) are highly popular among the general public, enjoying broad, bipartisan support. A recent independent survey revealed that 93 percent of Republicans and 86 percent of Democrats support legislation to create SBHPs. However, as the debate on the bill begins, some critics with a vested interest in maintaining the status quo at the expense of the American worker have resorted to scare tactics to drum up support in opposition to S. 1955.
“I am confident that when Americans begin to hear the Senate debate on S. 1955, they will support it overwhelmingly. I am pleased at the action the Senate took today and I look forward to a full and open debate that will reveal the enormous advantages of the bill,” Enzi said. “With the help of a diverse group of senators and business groups representing small business, we’ve bridged the gap between small business proponents of traditional AHPs and state-based interests worried about the prospects of dramatic regulatory changes in health insurance markets.”
A report prepared by the Milwaukee firm of Mercer Oliver Wyman, Inc. for the National Small Business Association found that the Enzi-Nelson-Burns bill would reduce health insurance costs for small business by 12 percent. In today’s dollars - about $1,000 per employee; and, would reduce the number of uninsured in working families by 8 percent - or approximately 1 million people.
