"All of these factors - cost increases, lack of competition between plans, access to care and mandates - make me very worried about Hatch Furniture's ability to offer health benefits in the future. If our July renewal brings another double-digit increase, I'm not sure how we will absorb it, or for that matter, how many employees will be able to keep their coverage. I fear that more might go without insurance. If more employees decide to drop coverage, I may not even be able to qualify for group coverage, at which point everybody loses. The lack of competitive benefits also severely limits my ability to hire and retain employees.

"It's for these reasons that I support legislation endorsed by NFIB that would create Association Health Plans. AHPs would allow small-business owners to band together across state lines to purchase health insurance as part of a large group, thus ensuring greater bargaining power, lower administrative costs and freedom from costly state insurance mandates. Fortune 500 companies and labor unions already have this right. AHPs will simply level the playing field and give small employers the same privileges as their counterparts in labor and big business."

Owner, Hatch Furniture, testifying before the House Committee on Small Business, March 19, 2002