Proposed Legislation May Make it Easier for Small Businesses to Provide Affordable Health Insurance.

In an effort to level the playing field in what small businesses pay for health insurance Representative Don Manzullo, R-Ill., Chairman of the House Small Business Committee, and Representative Melissa Hart, R-Penn., proposed H.R. 4961 the Self-Employed Health Care Affordability Act of 2006.  The bill is intended to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 as it relates to what businesses can deduct in relation to what they pay for employee health insurance. There is an inequity in current tax law that penalizes small-business owners by requiring them to pay an extra tax on their health insurance premiums. According to Representative Hart, "Approximately 60 percent of Americans that do not have health insurance work for small businesses as defined by the tax code.  This legislation H.R. 4961 is specifically designed to close this gap and help the self-employed and employees of small businesses, get coverage by correcting an inequity that unfairly punishes them. Large corporations not only have the ability to deduct healthcare premiums, they are also able to negotiate lower prices from insurance companies. This legislation helps to level the playing field for the self-employed by allowing them to do the same and lower the economic burden to obtain coverage for themselves and their employees."

There have been other legislation on the State level both proposed and adopted, that have helped make it easier for small businesses to obtain affordable health insurance for their employees. According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, "The healthcare safety net--that is, state and federal government-sponsored programs intended to "catch" people unable to [obtain health insurance] in the private market--is being increasingly strained. States have stepped in in recent years, passing incremental reforms and trying to fill in the coverage gaps for their citizens." One of the model plans is Massachusetts' Health Care Access and Affordability Act. Much like states mandate that all people carry auto insurance, the Bill passed in April of 2006 is a multi-prong approach toward universal coverage.  It requires all individuals who can afford to do so to maintain health insurance through their employer, a state-run program, or in the individual market, in effect then it encourages private insurance companies to provide lower-cost health plans to small businesses and the self employed. In addition the Act effects small businesses and what they pay for health insurance as it states that employers who do not offer insurance to their workers would instead have to pay a small assessment to a fund that provides the state mandated coverage. Employers with 10 or fewer employees would be exempt.

The legislative trend in the states seems to be an attempt to fill in the gaps public and private health insurance systems leave behind, yet some states are still considering overhauling the current system with a single-payer, universal health insurance system that would cover every citizen within their borders. A comprehensive list of all state legislation as it relates to health insurance and health care can be reviewed at: http://www.ncsl.org