Association Health Plan (AHP) legislation passes the House of Representatives.In a busy final week before Congress' August break, the House of Representatives passed the "Small Business Health Fairness Act of 2005" (H.R. 525) by a vote of 263-165 on July July: see month. 26. Also referred to as the Association Health Plan (AHP AHP Assistant House Physician. ) legislation, H.R. 525 would amend the ERISA See Employee Retirement Income Security Act. ERISA See Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA). (Employee Retirement Income Security Act The Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), 29 U.S.C.A. § 1001 et seq. (1974), is a federal law that sets minimum standards for most voluntarily established Pension and health plans in private industry to provide protection for individuals enrolled in these plans. of 1974) so AHPs would fall under one federal statute instead of being subject to state laws, which vary across the country. As a result, trade associations, such as AFS A distributed file system for large, widely dispersed Unix and Windows networks from Transarc Corporation, now part of IBM. It is noted for its ease of administration and expandability and stems from Carnegie-Mellon's Andrew File System. AFS - Andrew File System , would be able to offer unified health insurance plans to its members. The legislation has the potential to lower health insurance costs for small businesses and reduce the number of uninsured people in the U.S. These outcomes have been a top priority for the Bush Administration. AHPs have been an important issue for the metalcasting industry, and AFS has supported the passage of the legislation in the past. The legislation now moves to the Senate, where there is cautious optimism for its passage. For more information, view the press release from the House Committee on Education and the Workforce at http://edworkforce .house.gov/press/press/109/first/ 07jul/passhr525072605.htm. |
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