Gary Franks: “H.R. 3103, the Health Care Coverage Availability and Affordability Act will ensure that Americans have access to health…”

“H.R. 3103, the Health Care Coverage Availability and Affordability Act will ensure that Americans have access to health care coverage. More importantly, however, the bill will insure that people do not lose their insurance coverage when they switch jobs. During the March 17th hearing this subcommittee held on insurance reform I stated that I had worked for both small businesses and for Fortune 500 companies. During my tenure in the business world I saw first hand the concern of individuals who have worked hard and suddenly found themselves without employment or insurance coverage. These individuals worry about how they will make their insurance payments to COBRA. COBRA benefits are supposed to cover individuals during periods of unemployment, but without a job how can the individual keep up his or her COBRA payments. They can't, so they simply slip through the cracks in our insurance industry. These are the individuals that we must be most concerned with.”