Association Health Insurance Stumbles

WASHINGTON -- July 31, 2006 -- An initiative to allow associations such as the National Association of Realtors (NAR) to offer health coverage to members stumbled and fell yesterday in the U.S. Congress after being removed from a popular bill. NAR reports that the House leaders still seem willing to pass the health care initiative but now need to figure out how to do it.

The story has less to do with association health care programs than it does with the mechanics of politics and what it takes to turn a bill into law. A group of mainly moderate Republicans threatened to keep the House in session into August unless a bill to increase the minimum wage was brought to a vote. On Thursday, it seemed as if the health care initiative would be tacked onto that bill, almost guaranteeing it would be brought to a vote and possibly passing. But as discussions progressed, the health care drive was dropped in favor of a tax package that includes estate tax changes.

Thanks to the changes, however, the association health care plan is unattached and there's no obvious host bill on the horizon. For now, however, some members of Congress still seem to care about the health insurance issue and remain willing to talk about getting it passed.

"Sen. (Bill) Frist's (R-Tennessee) office has called us and others to a meeting either next week or the week after to continue working on passage this year," says Jerry Giovaniello, NAR senior vice president of government affairs. "The entire gambit does signal that the Hill is working to find an acceptable bill and vehicle."

Source: NAR