Small Business Health Plans Act of 2006

The Small Business Health Plans Act of 2006 (H.R. 5288) was designed to help small businesses with 50 or fewer employees provide more affordable health insurance to their workers and their families. The bill proposed creating a national health pooling arrangement, which would allow small employers to band together to gain the same bargaining power and lower administrative costs typically enjoyed by large corporations.

For citizens, this legislation aimed to increase access to health coverage for small business employees by offering government-backed premium assistance to help employers cover costs. Additionally, the bill included a reinsurance program to protect insurance providers from catastrophic medical expenses, a measure intended to stabilize premiums and make private insurance more accessible for the small business workforce.