Today, 46 million Americans are without health insurance. Of those, more than 60% work for a small business or are dependent upon someone who does.

There is Small Business Health Plan legislation pending before the U.S. Senate, already passed by the U.S. House, that would allow small businesses to pool together through their professional or trade associations to purchase health coverage from established insurance companies --just like large corporations do now.

Small Business Health Plans are a new way to purchase healthcare coverage that might become available to the self-employed and small businesses. This plan would allow the self-employed and small businesses to band together with other self-employed people or small companies across the country who are members of the same trade or professional organization. Together, they would purchase private health insurance plans for their employees or themselves. Currently, this type of coverage is not available. It first requires congressional approval so that private health insurance companies can sell insurance across state lines to the self-employed and small businesses in multiple states.

If small business health plan legislation is passed, the average family could save $1,000 per year in insurance premiums. In addition, it is estimated 4.5 million people currently without health insurance would be able to have access to coverage.

Click here for Frequently Asked Questions on Small Business Health Plan Legislation