Washington, DC, March 31, 2006--According to a new survey released by Senator Michael B. Enzi (R-Wyo.), an overwhelming majority of Americans want to form associations to bargain collectively for less-costly health insurance.
Enzi, who is chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, reports that 89 percent, including 93 percent of Republicans and 86 percent of Democrats--favor legislation that would allow self-employed workers and small-business employees to band together through a trade or professional association to negotiate lower health insurance costs.
That small business health plans will bring health care insurance to 45 million people who lack coverage today makes the plans popular with more than a third of all voters, 37 percent, and another 33 percent recognized the greater bargaining power of small businesses with the ability to band together. The survey of 800 likely voters was conducted last week by Public Opinion Strategies and Lake Research Partners.
“The results of this survey go to the heart of why the Senate should pass a small business health plan now. The people who make up the bedrock of our economy--small, family-owned businesses--have overwhelmingly issued a mandate for change. Millions want the kind of relief our bill offers--whether they are Republican or Democrat,” Enzi said. Last week, Enzi’s HELP committee passed S.1955, the Health Insurance Marketplace Modernization and Affordability Act, cosponsored by Enzi and Sens. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) and Conrad Burns (R-Mont.), by a vote of 11-9.
The survey found that more than a third of all voters say they are dissatisfied with the health care system and a majority are dissatisfied with the cost of their health care plans and the lack of selection of health care plans that are available to them. Dissatisfaction with health care costs crosses party lines--42 percent of Republicans, 48 percent of Independents and 49 percent of Democrats are unhappy with the cost of health care today.
The 25 percent of voters who work in America’s smallest companies (companies with less than 10 employees) are having the most difficulty with health care coverage, the survey found. Nearly half (48 percent) of these voters say the health care system is not meeting the needs of them or their families. Almost one quarter of voters (23 percent) have gone without health insurance coverage at some point over the last three years.
“This new survey is a high sign from the voters that the time has come for the Senate to pass small business health plans. The message could not be clearer as demonstrated in this survey. Millions of American voters across the economic and political spectrum, Democrats as well as Republicans, are counting on Congress to pass this long-awaited reform. It’s time now for the Senate to act!” said NAR President Thomas M. Stevens of Vienna, Va., at a news conference today in the U. S. Capitol building.
The survey’s findings echo NAR’s own membership. According to a 2004 NAR survey, 28 percent of Realtors® have no health insurance at all. Only 7 percent of real estate firms offer health care coverage for independent contractors. Most real estate agents are independent contractors. Small business health plan legislation is NAR’s top priority in the current Congress.
A similar bill, the Small Business Health Fairness Act, H.R. 525, was approved by the House in July of 2005. Both bills would make quality health care affordable and available to the self-employed and small businesses.
NAR, with over 1.2 million members, is actively working with members of Congress and the administration to ensure passage of S. 1955. In recent weeks, NAR members have written over 19,000 letters to members of Congress encouraging them to pass small business health care now.
