Jon L. Christensen: “Mr. Speaker, this is Insure the Uninsured Week, and for me as a physician and Chair of the Health Brain Trust of the…”

“Mr. Speaker, this is Insure the Uninsured Week, and for me as a physician and Chair of the Health Brain Trust of the Congressional Black Caucus, ensuring health coverage to everyone is a priority every day. And so I want to be very clear that I rise in strong support of providing small businesses and their employees access to high-quality health insurance that is truly affordable. That is why I oppose H.R. 4281, the Association Health Plan bill, and support the Kind-Andrews substitute. We in the minority caucuses have spent a great deal of time looking at the issue of insurance, of how we can allow small business associations to come together to pool their purchasing power to buy quality health coverage at the lowest possible cost. I did not originally sign on to the bill, but after a closer look at what it would do and as a physician who understands how important it is to do no harm, I removed my name from what I consider a harmful bill. In H.R. 4281, the base bill, AHPs would be exempt from State insurance regulations and consumer protections.”