No Date Set Yet for Small Business Health Plan Vote

At press time, it was still not known whether Sen. Bill Frist (R-TN) would bring to the Senate floor a revised Health Insurance Marketplace Modernization and Affordability Act, S. 1955 -- a bill that would allow business and trade associations to pool their members to offer group health coverage through Small Business Health Plans (SBHPs), also known as Association Health Plans. Calls to Frist's office were not returned.

If the SBHP bill is not brought to a vote in the Senate by adjournment, which could be as early as Friday, September 29, experts believe it is unlikely the bill will be brought up for a vote this year.

The legislation, which was introduced by Sen. Michael Enzi (R-WY), is co-sponsored by Sen. Ben Nelson (D-NE) and Sen. Conrad Burns (R-MT). Last week, CongressDaily reported that Nelson is in the process of revising the bill so that SBHPs would have to include benefits required by at least 26 states.

In May, Enzi had pushed for a cloture motion on S. 1955, which then stipulated that insurers must offer an enhanced option health plan that provides the benefits, services, and categories of providers covered by a state employee health plan in one of the five most populous states: California, Texas, New York, Florida, or Illinois. However, Enzi's attempt was blocked when the Senate voted 55 - 43 against cloture. (Read more.)