Pete Stark: “I rise today to oppose H.R. 660, the ``Small Business Health Fairness Act of 2003.'' This bill is badly misnamed. Rather…”

“I rise today to oppose H.R. 660, the ``Small Business Health Fairness Act of 2003.'' This bill is badly misnamed. Rather than make the cost of health insurance for small businesses more fair, this bill would have the perverse effect of increasing the cost of health insurance for many people and increase the number of people without health insurance altogether. This bill would allow these new entities, called Association Health Plans (AHPs), to bypass State regulation and offer bare-bones health insurance policies. Small businesses that don't choose to offer these inadequate policies would see their premiums increase by 23 percent on average. This premium hike would occur because AHPs, which would offer only skeletal coverage, would attract the healthiest individuals, leaving traditional health insurance plans with the sickest and most expensive patients. This shift would penalize businesses with sicker employees, and make health insurance for those who need it the most even more unaffordable. Further, this legislation would swell the ranks of the uninsured by over one million more individuals.”