The Senate sponsor of a major association health plan bill appeared before a group of health insurance brokers Tuesday to ask for help with pushing the bill through Congress.
Sen. Michael Enzi, R-Wyo., spoke Tuesday at a conference organized by the National Association of Health Underwriters, Arlington, Va., to rally support for S. 1955, the Health Insurance Marketplace Modernization and Affordability Act, which passed the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee March 15 by an 11-9 vote.
"I am very hopeful to get this through the legislative process," Enzi told NAHU members. "But it won't be easy. We need your help to get it across the goal line."
S. 1955, which is getting strong support from the Bush administration, would give small businesses the ability to buy health insurance through multistate associations.
Although the insurer providing the AHP coverage would have to be licensed in every state in which it sold association coverage, it could offer an association a uniform benefits package that would not reflect variations in state benefits mandates.
Enzi's current bill has been facing strong opposition from insurers, state insurance regulators and many Democrats.
