Thirty-nine state attorneys general voiced their opposition to a bill in the U.S. Senate that would allow small businesses to purchase less expensive health insurance for their employees through trade associations, reports an AP/Washington Post story. Small employers would purchase the insurance through associations that would offer plans exempt from individual states’ insurance requirements, such as mandated coverage for specific health problems or preventative care. The attorneys general argue that the state requirements are vital safeguards. “Allowing health insurers to abandon mandated benefits ... will result in an increasingly ill population and higher healthcare costs as the healthcare system treats a growing number of consumers in crisis,” the attorneys general wrote to senators.
