mr. speaker , today i rise in strong support of the rule for h.r. 525 , the small business health fairness act of 2005 , offered by the gentleman from texas ( mr. sam johnson ) . 
mr. speaker , if we do not act soon , america will face a health care crisis . 
health care costs are skyrocketing . 
we all know it ; and , unfortunately , so do the ranks of america 's uninsured . 
as usual , government is part of the problem . 
more freedom and more competition is part of the solution . 
with nearly half of the 45 million uninsured americans employed by small businesses , or dependent upon someone who is , h.r. 525 will help more americans get access to the affordable health insurance they need . 
h.r. 525 would allow the creation of association health plans to help alleviate the enormous health care burden on america 's small businesses . 
they will empower small businesses to join together to bargain with insurance carriers to get health care coverage for their workers at an affordable cost . 
no affordable cost , no insurance . 
under current law , large employers that self-insure are exempt from state mandates while small businesses are not . 
this increases the cost of health insurance up to 13 percent and bars up to one-quarter of the uninsured from acquiring health care . 
mr. speaker , that is not right . 
small businesses and their employees should have the same right to quality health care insurance that large corporations and unions already enjoy . 
the congressional budget office estimates that association health plans could actually reduce premiums for small businesses up to 25 percent . 
that could mean an average savings of $ 1 , 000 to $ 2 , 000 for the average family health plan offered by a small business . 
that means more people covered , more lives saved . 
i urge all my colleagues to support the rule for h.r. 525 and the underlying legislation . 
with association health plans , we can dramatically reduce the number of uninsured americans while increasing health care access , affordability , and choice . 
