mr. speaker , i am pleased to be here today to support the rule to govern h.r. 525 , the small business health fairness act of 2005 . 
as costs continue to escalate annually at unprecedented rates , our employers are being forced to drop health care coverage , or not be able to afford it at all . 
our small businesses share a large part of that burden because they are forced to shop for health insurance in the costly small group market . 
large employers bring bargaining clout to the table when they work with insurance companies . 
small businesses have fewer employees and thus have little or no bargaining power . 
not only that , but large employers and unions are exempt from burdensome state mandates . 
these mandates dictate what health plans must cover and which vary from state to state . 
small employers do not have that luxury . 
we know that more than 60 percent of the over-40 million uninsured americans either work for a small business or are dependent upon someone who does . 
the clear course of action here is to help our small businesses afford health coverage by giving them the same opportunity . 
association health plans , or ahps , do just that . 
small businesses would be able to group together in bona fide trade associations . 
ahps would then be able to use economies of scale to their advantage and provide more affordable health care for working families while avoiding the administrative cost of state mandates . 
ahps are expected to save small business owners and their employees as much as 30 percent on their health insurance . 
this bipartisan bill makes sense . 
the time to act is now . 
i urge a `` yes '' vote on this rule . 
