Congress’s pending approval of the Small Business Health Fairness Act could give small construction company owners more affordable health care for employees, according to the Associated Builders and Contractors organization.
The legislation was introduced in the U.S House of Representatives and would allow all small businesses to join together nationwide through federally certified association health plans.
“The skyrocketing cost of health care premiums is a major concern for small construction firms and their employees,” said Kirk Pickerel, ABC president and chief executive. “This legislation provides a common-sense, no-cost solution that will help ensure many more U.S. construction workers have access to the health care they need and deserve.”
The House twice approved similar AHP legislation during the 108th Congress — on June 19, 2003, and again on May 13, 2004. Both bills passed with wide bipartisan majorities.
A companion AHP legislation, S. 545, was introduced in the U.S. Senate during the 108th Congress, but the chamber never voted on the bill.
Rep. Sam Johnson,R-Texas, chairman of the House committee on education and the workforce’s subcommittee on employer-employee relations, introduced the latest AHP legislation. A bipartisan group of legislators, including Rep. Albert Wynn, D-Md., Rep. Nydia Velazquez, D-N.Y., and Education and the Workforce Committee Chairman John Boehner, R-Ohio, back the bill. President Bush also expressed strong support for the legislation and repeatedly called for the Senate to consider it.
“In the new year, the president has continued to tout AHPs as a solution for helping to control the spiraling cost of health care for America’s small businesses,” Pickeral said. He said the ABC would continue to work for passage of the bill.
