mr. speaker , the so-called small business health fairness act is anything but fair . 
congress should not be in the business of promoting the reduction of healthcare benefits and coverage and that is exactly what this bill does . 
proponents of h.r. 525 argue that health insurance will be cheaper under this bill , but the devil is in the details . 
healthy people would enjoy low premiums under association health plans because the plans are exempt from state consumer protections and minimum quality requirements , and therefore meaningful coverage . 
without consumer safeguards , association health plans would be largely unregulated and unlikely to cover such benefits as mammography screening , cervical cancer screening , well-child visits , mental health services and diabetic supplies . 
while this might appeal to healthy people , it will be devastating to those who actually need medical care . 
those who are sicker would remain in non-association health plans and would have to pay higher premiums to compensate for those individuals who are siphoned off into the association health plans . 
it is also troublesome that this legislation exempts association health plans from state solvency standards . 
many states have strict solvency laws that protect workers from insurance fraud and abuse . 
any meaningful insurance company should have to adhere to adequate standards of protection . 
we should reject this anti-consumer proposal in favor of the kind/andrews substitute . 
this measure would create a small employer health benefits plan , sehb , similar to the federal employee health benefit plan and would offer coverage to all small businesses with fewer than 100 workers . 
significantly , this legislation works with existing state laws and does not preempt state mandates regarding health care coverage . 
this substitute very clearly commits federal funds to aid small businesses in offering insurance to employees . 
true health insurance coverage offers meaningful benefits with appropriate solvency safeguards . 
our constituents deserve no less . 
i urge my colleagues to reject h.r. 525 and pass the kind/andrews substitute today . 
