Virginia Foxx: “I rise to applaud the House for passing H.R. 525, the Small Business Health Fairness Act of 2005 yesterday, which will…”

“I rise to applaud the House for passing H.R. 525, the Small Business Health Fairness Act of 2005 yesterday, which will help provide better access to health care coverage for small businesses. Small businesses and self-employed citizens have long been an integral and valuable part of the American economy. We should assist in their growth and improvement in whatever ways we can. The primary achievement of this bill will be the establishment of certified Federal Association Health Plans, or AHPs. AHPs will increase small business bargaining power with health care providers and allow them to offer the kind of health care coverage that big business has long been able to provide. Second, AHPs will give employers freedom from costly State-mandated benefit packages. Taken together, these features of the new AHPs will enlarge the number of insured Americans up to 8 million people. As Republicans, we are working to increase the number of insured Americans, since as many as one in seven Americans is uninsured. Moreover, the most recent U.S. census statistics show that increases in the number of uninsured employees comes solely from declining coverage in the small business sector. The Small Business Health Fairness Act is a strong step in the right direction, and I am pleased to have passed it. ____________________”