Two local congressmen were part of a bipartisan group that unveiled legislation to create what they said would be more affordable health insurance for those working for a small business or who are self-employed.

U.S. Rep Phil English, Erie, R-3rd District, and Jason Altmire, McCandless, D-4th District, were members of a group who laid out the plan at a news conference in Washington, D.C., Tuesday. Lawmakers said the measure, called the Small Business Health Options Program, would lower insurance costs for small businesses by allowing them to band together to obtain lower premiums, provide tax credits to offset contributions to employee premiums, and ban health status rating in order to protect businesses from large rate increases simply because one employee gets sick. 

“As health care costs continue to skyrocket, American entrepreneurs and small businesses are all too often forced to choose between the livelihood of their business and the quality of benefits they provide to their workers,” said English, the lead Republican sponsor of the bill. “By establishing a nationwide health insurance pool for small businesses and the self-employed, we can break down the barriers to affordable health insurance and ensure these job producing employers can provide their workers with stronger health care options with more choices at a lower cost,” English continued.

Among the measure’s supporters are the National Federation of Independent Businesses, National Association of Realtors and the Service Employees International Union.

“More than 27 million small business employees do not have health insurance due to high costs and limited availability,” Altmire said. “The SHOP Act is bipartisan legislation that has been endorsed by business and labor leaders as a common-sense proposal that will make health care more affordable for America’s small businesses and the self-employed.’’