¶ Expanding Certain Small Businesses To Join An AHP While Reducing Health Insurance Standards
2017: Fitzpatrick Voted To Expand Small Businesses' Capability To
Sponsor Association Health Plans (AHPs) While Exempting The Plans From
Most State Laws And Regulations. In March 2017, Fitzpatrick voted for
legislation designed to expand small businesses' ability to sponsor
AHPs. According to Congressional Quarterly, "This bill expands the
ability of trade and business associations to sponsor association health
plans (AHPs), through which member companies can offer group health
insurance to their employees. To encourage the creation of new AHPs, it
exempts AHPs from most state laws and regulations and allows AHPs to set
their own health insurance standards, with few mandated requirements. It
requires that all AHPs be sponsored by bona fide, established trade or
business associations in which dues-paying businesses are members, and
that sponsored health plans be certified by the Labor Department.
Insurers would be permitted to sell policies identical to an AHP policy
to other businesses in the state that are not members of the trade or
business association." The vote was on passage. The House passed the
legislation by a vote of 236 to 175. The Senate took no substantive
action on the legislation. [House Vote 186,
3/22/17; Congressional
Quarterly, 3/17/17;
Congressional Actions, H.R.
1101]
- Legislation Would, By Exempting These Plans From Regulation,
Eliminate Current Minimum Standards Of Health Care, Such As
Requirements On Comprehensive Coverage Or Preventative Care.
According to Congressional Quarterly, "Opponents of the bill,
primarily Democrats, argue that while association health plans can
provide a valuable means of providing health care coverage to
employees of certain small businesses, the bill would undermine
critical worker protections to small-business employees by exempting
association health plans from many state laws and regulations,
including those involving health care, consumer protection, and
grievance and appeals. Allowing association health plans to
determine their own benefits would directly eliminate current
minimum standards of health care, they say, such as requirements for
preventative care and comprehensive coverage, and will result in a
dramatic scaling back of health benefits to covered workers and a
dramatic shift of health care costs onto those employees. Even
worse, they say, is that it allows the insurers providing an AHP
health plan to also offer identical plans to businesses that are not
part of the business or trade association, which will increase the
'race to the bottom' of insurers offering substandard plans."
[Congressional Quarterly,
3/17/17]