There is an urgent need to address health care challenges facing working families and small businesses. Democrat policies, like Obamacare, have sold Americans a faulty bill of goods and led to consolidation in the marketplace, skyrocketing premiums, and a broken individual health market that costs taxpayers more than a trillion dollars while covering only 9 percent of the population.

H.R. 2528, the Association Health Plans Act, amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) to improve access to affordable health coverage options for workers employed by small businesses. The bill amends ERISA to authorize the creation of association health plans (AHPs) sponsored by groups or associations of employers. The legislation allows small businesses and self-employed individuals to band together across state lines through associations, thus increasing their bargaining power with plans and providers and placing them on a more level playing field with larger companies and unions. H.R. 2528  frees small businesses from costly state-mandated benefit packages, spreads risk for self-employed individuals, and lowers overhead costs, enabling employers to offer more affordable health care coverage to their workers and enabling self-employed individuals to access more affordable health care coverage.

Those in favor of the Association Health Plans Act, argue it makes it easier for small businesses to promote a healthy workforce and offer more affordable health care coverage. By allowing small businesses to join together in AHPs, the bill puts smaller businesses on a more level playing field with larger companies and unions, and it increases their bargaining power with insurance providers. More importantly, it provides smaller employers--many of whom have limited resources--with a greater opportunity to offer their workers quality and affordable health care coverage. If enacted, H.R.2528 will empower small businesses to provide quality health care for their employees and independent contractors to obtain quality affordable health care coverage.

Those against argue that the Association Health Plans Act, would erode the protections in the ACA and leave small businesses and their workers vulnerable to unaffordable health coverage and fewer benefits. The expansion of AHPs will threaten affordable coverage for those outside of the associations while failing to provide comprehensive, reliable coverage to their own enrollees. This misguided legislation is simply a recycled attack on affordable health care and yet another effort to roll back the historic progress made under the ACA. For the reasons stated above, Committee Democrats unanimously opposed H.R. 2528 when the Committee on Education and the Workforce considered it. We urge the House of Representatives to do the same.

Should Congress pass H.R.2528, the Association Health Plans Act?