The Health Insurance Marketplace Modernization Act

Small businesses face increasing challenges affording the soaring costs of health care for their employees. Congress has a responsibility to provide small business with effective help in meeting those costs but the Health Insurance Marketplace Modernization Act takes the wrong approach. Sweeping away essential protections for patients, and allowing insurance companies to cherry pick the healthiest workers, while redlining those with health care needs is no answer to the crisis that small businesses face.

The Health Insurance Marketplace Modernization Act is a wolf in sheep’s clothing. Its effects go far beyond the small business market, and reach into every State and every area of health care coverage. In the guise of providing help to small businesses with the skyrocketing costs of health care, the bill:

• Sweeps away essential State patient protections guaranteeing access to services such as well baby care, immunization, cancer screening, access to specialists, and many other important services.

• Nullifies State laws that guarantee affordable health insurance premiums for millions of Americans.

• Allows insurance companies to cherry pick businesses with the healthiest workers while red-lining those whose workers have health care needs.

• Gives insurance companies unprecedented powers to sue to protect their profits but fails to give consumers the right to defend their rights in court.

• Undermines the basic legal tools that state insurance commissioners use to ensure that consumers are not harmed by fraudulent or discriminatory actions by insurance companies.

The bill is so skewed to benefit industry over consumers that it does not even limit its impact to the new “small business health plans” nor does it improve the affordability of coverage for the self-employed. It effects will be devastating millions will pay more for the health insurance, while major corporations will line up for the lucrative business of providing skimpy coverage to those who need little health care.