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Vital legislation promoting affordable health care for small businesses will hit the Senate floor for the first time in more than a decade, thanks to a March 15 vote by the U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee.
The Health Insurance Marketplace Modernization and Affordability Act would allow professional associations to provide group health insurance across state lines. One report estimates this could reduce health insurance costs for a small business by 12 percent.
An estimated 27 million small-business owners account for the largest segment of the uninsured population in the country. (Small businesses are defined as those with less than 100 employees.) Those that do provide health insurance have faced double-digit rate increases in recent years.
Dan Danner, executive vice president of the National Federation of Independent Business, issued the following statement in favor of the act: "Small Business Health Plans, combined with much-needed competition for the small-group market, will bring more choices for owners facing double-digit rate increases and struggling to afford health insurance for their employees.
"SBHPs will level the health insurance playing field and give participating small businesses the same buying power as Fortune 500 companies and unions."
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