mr. speaker , i yield myself such time as i may consume .  mr. speaker , as the number of uninsured americans continues to increase and health insurance costs continue to rise by double digits annually , it is clear that something must be done .  i commend our friends across the aisle for coming up with a plan they think works .  while i have great respect for the gentleman from new jersey ( ranking member andrews ) and the gentleman from wisconsin ( mr. kind )  , i have to disagree with them .  their substitute will have the unintended consequence of raising , not lowering , costs for small businesses trying to offer health insurance .  it will impose new mandates on employers and saddle the american public with yet another government program to fund .  the proponents of the plan claim that the new `` small employer health benefits plan '' is modeled after ours here in the federal government .  unfortunately , unlike the federal employee health benefit plan , health insurance provided under the democrat substitute would be subject to more than 1 , 500 state mandates that make up 15 percent of the rising costs of health insurance .  that increased cost would likely be funded by higher taxes , adding another burden to small businesses .  and on top of that , the substitute would force small businesses to deal with a host of new mandates .  their substitute mandates employers provide health coverage to every employee who has been employed for more than 3 months .  it mandates that employers pay 50 percent of the health care premiums for employees .  it mandates that they cover the dependents of their workers .  more mandates are supposed to lower costs ?  the democrat substitute just does not make sense .  in contrast , ahps utilize the strengths of the employer-based system , the private market , competition , economy of scale enjoyed by large union and employer plans , and erisa 's preemption of state mandates , to lower costs .  mr. speaker , ahps are supported by our nation 's small businesses .  the nfib , the national retail federation ; the national association of wholesalers and distributors ; the national restaurant association ; associated builders and contractors ; national association of homebuilders ; the united states chamber of commerce , and others are strongly supportive of this legislation .  i hope my colleagues will join me in offering assistance to our nation 's small businesses and their workers by supporting ahps and opposing the democrat substitute .  mr. speaker i reserve the balance of my time .  