Nelson Small Business Health Insurance Bill Gets 450,000 Supporters

NELSON SMALL BUSINESS HEALTH INSURANCE BILL GETS 450,000 SUPPORTERS

NFIB Members, Including 5740 Nebraskans, Sign Petitions Supporting Small Business Health Insurance Bill (S.1955)

A petition signed by over 450,000 Americans from working families signals the widespread national support for a bipartisan plan to lower health insurance costs for small businesses and expand the number of insured Americans.

The National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) delivered the signed petitions to Congress today and thanked Senator Mike Enzi (WY), Ben Nelson (NE) and Conrad Burns (MT) for their leadership in offering the "Health Insurance Marketplace Modernization and Affordability Act (s. 1955). This landmark legislation will lower health insurance costs for small businesses by allowing them to band together across state lines to leverage their purchasing power to offer health insurance to their employees.

The petition drive follows a recent national survey that showed 93 percent of Republicans, 86 percent of Democrats and 88 percent of Independents favor a small business health insurance purchasing plan.

"More than fifty-seven hundred (5700) Nebraskans and 450,000 Americans have expressed their support for our plan to lower health insurance costs for America's small businesses and expand the number of insured Americans," said Nebraska's Senator Ben Nelson who received 5740 petitions from Nebraska. "With skyrocketing health insurance costs, fewer and fewer Americans have health insurance. Our bill will begin to address the 17 million Americans who work at small businesses without health insurance benefits."

S.1955, which was introduced by Senator Enzi, the Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee and cosponsored by Senators Nelson and Burns, will allow business and trade associations to band working families together and offer group health coverage on a regional or national basis. The bill was offered after the Senate for years failed to address the lack of health insurance for small businesses.

NFIB is the nation's largest advocacy organization for small and independent businesses. It represents 600,000 members from across the country and its members employ four million American workers, from farmers to high-tech manufacturers to retailers.

The HELP Committee approved the bill on March 15. The Senate could consider the legislation before the end of May.

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