House Passes Plan Making Health Care More Affordable
By: Stephen Crews
Updated: March 23, 2011
One
year after President Obama signed into law a national healthcare
mandate,
raising taxes and making premiums more costly, the Alabama House of
Representatives today passed a plan that would make healthcare more
affordable by easing the tax burden on small businesses that offer
insurance and workers who participate in employee healthcare
plans.
House
Bill 61, sponsored by Representative April Weaver, who represents
Shelby and Bibb Counties,
would allow small business owners and their employees to deduct 200
percent of what they spend on health insurance premiums from their
state income taxes. Offering such an incentive will encourage more
companies to offer healthcare benefits and more employees
to take advantage of it, reducing the number of Alabamians currently
uninsured.
“The
rising cost of healthcare has been especially difficult for small
businesses and their
employees,” Representative Weaver said. “Liberals in Washington thought
the answer was forcing companies into ill-fitting healthcare plans,
expanding Medicaid rolls and raising taxes to pay for it. In Alabama,
we are lowering taxes for small businesses and
workers to help spur job growth and make quality healthcare more
available and affordable. We’re also saving taxpayer money by moving
the uninsured into employer-provided healthcare plans, therefore
lowering costs now borne by the state. I appreciate the support
of my colleagues in the House and look forward to working with the
Senate to move this bill toward final passage.”
House Speaker Mike Hubbard said Representative Weaver showed great initiative in taking the
reins on this bill and driving it successfully through the House, especially as a newly-elected lawmaker.
“Our
new Members have shown tremendous leadership early in this Regular
Session,” Speaker
Hubbard said. “Representative Weaver deserves a great deal of credit
for her work carrying this bill through the legislative process. It is
often too expensive for small business owners to offer quality
healthcare to their employees. Many small business workers
find it too expensive to participate in health plans that are offered.
That means more Alabamians go uninsured or depend on Medicaid for
coverage. Offering healthcare tax incentives to small businesses and
their employees helps bridge that gap, while also improving
our business climate and jumpstarting job growth.”
House Bill 61 passed by a vote of 83-12 and now goes to the Senate.
