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 .  