Senator Sherrod Brown

TO KICK-OFF START OF 111th CONGRESS, BROWN ANNOUNCES JOBS AND HEALTH CARE LEGISLATION

WASHINGTON, D.C. – On the first day of the 111th Congress, United States Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) announced legislation that would create green jobs in Ohio and expand access to health insurance for small businesses and self-employed individuals.

“Creating good-paying jobs and expanding health coverage must be top priorities in the new Congress,” said Brown. “After holding more than 126 roundtable discussions in all of Ohio’s counties, it’s clear that job creation and health coverage are critical to the strength of our economy. It’s time for policies that put middle class families first.”

Brown today introduced two pieces of legislation to grow Ohio’s economy: the Green Energy Production Act and the Small Employer Health Insurance Bill.

The Green Energy Production Act of 2009 continues Brown’s efforts to create jobs through a thriving alternative energy industry in Ohio.  Brown, who has been working to turn Ohio into the “Silicon Valley of Alternative Energy,” first introduced the legislation last year after a series of green-energy roundtables across the state. Ohio is home to green-energy research and development facilities and projects in the Toledo, Bowling Green, Dayton, Cincinnati, Columbus, Youngstown, Cleveland, and Akron areas.

The legislation would create green-energy jobs, reduce the nation’s dependence on foreign oil, and promote the production of green energy by expanding research and development, promoting commercialization of emergency energy technologies, enhancing workforce training opportunities, and helping to establish a national green-energy manufacturing base. A full summary of the legislation can be found below.

The Small Employer Health Insurance Act of 2009, first introduced last year, aims to decrease the number of uninsured Ohioans.  According to the U.S. Census Bureau, more than 45 million Americans are uninsured. Eighty-two percent of uninsured Americans are workers, and the overwhelming majority work in small businesses. In Ohio, only 44 percent of firms with less than 50 employees sponsor health care plans. According to a 2008 study by the Rand Corporation, small businesses (20 or fewer employees) saw the economic burden of health insurance rise by 43.5 percent between 2000 and 2005. 

Brown’s Small Employer Health Insurance Act would create a multi-plan insurance program for small businesses and self-employed individuals. Brown’s bill, which is modeled after the Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB) plan, would establish affordable coverage options for these under-served business segments. A full summary of Brown’s legislation can be found below.

The Green Energy Production Act of 2009 would:

•    Establish the Green Redevelopment, Opportunity, Workforce (GROW) Grant to assist small and medium-sized businesses in accelerating new product development and commercialization – focusing on early-stage investment.
•    Create a Green Energy Technology Internship and Apprenticeship Program which would provide up to $5,000 in matching grant funds to green-energy businesses that participate in internship programs. The program would focus on providing students with experience in green-energy production and manufacturing.

The Small Employer Health Insurance Act would create a multi-plan insurance program for small businesses and self-employed individuals. Modeled after the Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB) plan, Brown’s bill would:

•    Create a program managed by a fiscal intermediary (FI) under contract with the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The FI would follow the same rules and procedures as those established for the FEHB program.
•    Keep premiums affordable by authorizing HHS to create a reinsurance mechanism that would mirror the successful Healthy New York program. The New York program helps cover high cost enrollees by paying 90 percent of individual claims after a $5,000 threshold has been reached.
•    Establish a trust fund to finance the reinsurance program. The trust fund would be sustained by a small fee on all private health insurance carriers and self-insured plans.
•    Establish a federal commission, comprised of health care providers, manufacturers of health products, health care economists, and policy experts on health financing and delivery.  The commission would be charged with: 1) Establishing a standardized benefit package to ensure proper coverage for medically necessary services, rigorous disease prevention, and effective chronic disease management; 2) Ensuring individuals are not discriminated against based on their medically necessary condition; 3) Reducing over utilization of health services, medical errors, and fraud, waste and abuse in the health care system; 4) Combating price gouging for health products.

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