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House Democrats strip small
business health reforms,
replace with subsidies
Democrats in the House of
Representatives today voted to strip Republican amendments from a bill
that would have helped small business owners provide health insurance to
their employees.
House Bill 2572 emerged from the Senate as "one of the best pieces of
legislation to come through the Legislature to ensure affordable
insurance for small employers," said
Rep. Barbara Bailey. The amendments
approved by the Senate would have allowed health insurers to offer
additional health insurance options to small businesses for their
employees. House Democrats refused to concur with the amendments by a
vote of 56-42, essentially returning the bill back to its original
state. The original bill would expand government-subsidized health care
for low-income employees of small businesses, but would do nothing to
lower the cost of health insurance plans for those businesses.
"The cry from our small business owners has been, ‘help us provide
health insurance for our employees.’ They haven’t asked the state to pay
for it. Instead they have asked us to adopt policies that would help
them get affordable health plans in the private marketplace," said
Bailey, R-Oak Harbor. "The amended bill would have put some affordable
plans in the marketplace. But now that it is stripped, all this measure
does is expand government-run health care without lowering costs."
Amendments approved by the Senate would have:
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Allowed private
insurance companies to offer a choice of plans that do not include
all of the state’s 49 mandated health insurance offerings.
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Provided small
businesses with greater access to health savings accounts plans that
would have allowed employees to save money tax-free for their
medical needs.
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Provided a tax
incentive as a credit against business and occupation taxes for
small employers who offer health care.
"I am terribly
disappointed that the majority party in the House has refused to concur
with the Senate amendments, especially after it passed the Senate with
overwhelming bipartisan support. What it demonstrates to me is that
there is a segment of this Legislature which has no intention of having
affordable health insurance in the private marketplace," said Bailey, a
member of the House Health Care Committee. "This is the number one issue
of small businesses across the state to have affordable, private health
insurance. And yet, House Democrats are not willing to allow that. It is
a very sad day for us all."
The measure now returns to the Senate with the House asking it to recede
from its amendments.
# # #
For more information, contact:
John
Handy, Assistant Director: (360) 786-5758
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