Thursday, April 06, 2006
The last 30 years has been marked by a continuing shift from virtually no federal regulation of employer sponsored health insurance to extensive substantive and administrative requirements. Are the small businesses struggling to afford healthcare insurance? That's what U.S. Senator Olympia J. Snowe (R-Maine) hopes, and she has introduced legislation last week and is in a intention of the making it happen.
"Small Business Health Insurance Relief Act of 2006" (Senate Bill 2457)." Was introduced by, Snowe, the Chair of the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship. The idea is to provide incentive to small businesses so that they can afford health insurance for their employees.
Snowe says "Despite the fact that they are responsible for creating nearly 75 percent of all new jobs, our nation's small businesses are trapped in a vicious cycle of escalating health care premiums and fewer coverage options. It is a crisis that will only deepen if Congress does not act now and pass legislation that addresses the small business health insurance crisis."
"My legislation would use the tax code to encourage our nation's smallest businesses to offer health insurance," Snowe said. "It's an opportunity to offer innovative new incentives that will drastically shrink the ranks of America's nearly 46 million uninsured without significantly expanding the health care bureaucracy."
According to press release, legislation would offer the following.
Provide a targeted tax credit to small businesses with 50 or fewer employees who provide health insurance or a health savings account (HSA) to their employees .
Allow small businesses to offer cafeteria plans to provide employees with nontaxable benefits.
Provide tax incentives for insurers who provide products in the small group market or offer Small Business Health Plans.
posted by kanth
@ 3:10 AM
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