January 2006

President Bush wants pooled healthcare plans

In a speech given Jan. 19 at a company in Sterling, Va., President Bush indicated he wants small businesses to be able to pool their risks to reduce the cost of healthcare.

He said, “I know that small businesses should be allowed the same affordability of healthcare that big businesses get by being able to pool across jurisdictional boundaries … In other words, the larger the risk pool, the more employees you’re able to get in a risk pool, the easier it is to manage your costs when it comes to health insurance. You can’t do that now. And Congress should encourage you to be able to pool risk.”

He also encouraged small employers to use Health Savings Accounts with high deductibles, to encourage employees to take control of their healthcare.

“[This type of plan] certainly stands in stark contrast with a system in which the federal government gets to make the consumers decisions, or tells the providers what they can charge. It’s the opposite of federal control. It is patient control,” he said.

The full speech is available at www.whitehouse.gov/news.

Source: The White House, www.whitehouse.gov/news

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