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Inflation may be under control in America but not when it comes to the cost of health insurance premiums. Health insurance premiums are one segment of the economy that is still seeing double digit inflation.
For three days this month I visited with Nebraskans from one side of the state to the other about the cost of their health insurance coverage and the stories I heard were troubling.
The owner of one small business told me that health insurance premiums for his employees went up 27 percent last year. Unfortunately, such dramatic increases are fairly common. Since 2000, group premiums for family health insurance plans have risen almost 60 percent. The result is the cost of health insurance has climbed so high in some cases that it has forced many small businesses to drop coverage for their employees.
Nebraska is home to thirty thousand small businesses but only ten thousand of those are able to provide health insurance for their workers. That means twenty thousand small businesses do not provide coverage for their employees. Many of those who are forced to go without coverage are hard working people. In Scottsbluff, one man told me there are a lot of people who work hard trying to make a living but they are still too poor to afford health insurance. This is an unfortunate and dangerous situation for thousands of working families in Nebraska.
I have a prescription that is just what the doctor ordered. It’s a bill I introduced in the Senate which is called the Health Insurance Marketplace Modernization and Affordability Act of 2005. It is bi-partisan legislation which is sponsored by the Chair of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, Senator Mike Enzi (R-WY).
S. 1955 allows small businesses to pool resources when they negotiate with health insurance companies. There is power in numbers and by banding together it gives these companies greater bargaining power when they seek health insurance coverage at lower rates.
This is not government-sponsored insurance or socialized medicine. It is American free enterprise at its finest. There is no cost to taxpayers and it does not add to the federal bureaucracy because the programs would be administered by the insurance departments of various states.
Several of those I met with told me that this is a good first step toward addressing the problem not only for Nebraskans but for the 44 million Americans who are uninsured or underinsured. I view the problem as a jigsaw puzzle with many pieces. This will put one or two of the pieces in place with more to come in follow-up legislation.
This bill has the backing of the insurance industry, state regulars and small business groups. I’m optimistic that this is the year we get meaningful reform that will benefit working families and small businesses throughout America.
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