AICC Continues to Monitor Association Health Plan (AHP) Developments

Bills were recently introduced in both the House and Senate to ensure that small businesses and self-employed individuals will still have access to access to association health plans.

Legislation was introduced last week in both the House and Senate to ensure small businesses and self-employed individuals continue to have access to association health plans under the Department of Labor’s AHP rule issued last year.

Sens. Mike Enzi (R-WY) and Lamar Alexander (R-TN) introduced a bill to prevent thousands of people from losing their healthcare coverage after a federal judge struck down the Trump administration’s rules expanding AHPs late last month.

The Department of Labor is expected to appeal the ruling, but the Enzi-Alexander bill would codify the AHP rule that provides many working Americans the opportunity to buy the same lower-cost health insurance with the same patient protections as those plans offered by large employers. A companion bill was introduced in the House by Rep. Tim Walberg (R-MI).