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Ericksen says small business
health insurance bill passed by House won't help working families
For the second day in a
row, House Democrats have adopted legislation that would do nothing more
than pay lip service to Washington’s health care crisis, according to
Rep. Doug Ericksen. He said House Bill 2460 won’t make the needed
changes to Washington’s small group insurance market that would enable
small employers to provide health insurance to hundreds of thousands of
Washingtonians.
"The past few days have been incredibly frustrating,” said Ericksen,
R-Ferndale. “We’ve missed two golden opportunities to solve one of
Washington’s most critical issues – creating an affordable,
patient-driven health care system.
“Monday the House failed to adopt meaningful tort reform and today we
voted on a do-nothing health insurance bill for small businesses,” said
Ericksen. “Insurance in the small group market is becoming ridiculously
unaffordable. Employers are forced to shift more of the costs to their
employees, or drop their coverage altogether. What a horrible choice to
be forced to make.”
Ericksen noted that three
of out of four people in Washington work for small businesses and many
of those small businesses are struggling to provide insurance coverage
for their employees. He said the state regulations and unnecessary
government mandates make it too expensive for small businesses to offer
heath insurance to their workers and their families.
“About 75 percent of people who don’t have health insurance are in
working families,” said Ericksen. “Not every person needs an expensive,
Cadillac health plan. In fact, most folks need reliable, affordable
health insurance to care for them when they’re sick. I’m hopeful the
bill will be strengthened in the Senate and I’ll be able to support the
final version. Frankly, families in Whatcom County shouldn’t have to
wait another day for affordable health care.”
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For more information, contact:
John
Handy, Assistant Director: (360) 786-5758
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