Precision Metalforming Association Applauds Congressional Sponsors of "Small Business Health Options Program Act"

Business Wire, June 10, 2008

Legislation Would Help Reduce Costs, Improve Availability of Health Insurance for Small Manufacturers

WASHINGTON -- The Precision Metalforming Association (PMA) today called Congressional sponsors of H.R. 6210, the "Small Business Health Options Program," known as the SHOP Act, "true friends of America's small businesses" and urged Congress to pass the legislation as quickly as possible. The SHOP Act would increase the availability and reduce the costs of health insurance for the 47.1 million American workers employed by the nation's nearly six million small businesses, as well as for nearly 14 million self-employed workers.

Congressional SHOP Act sponsors include Representatives Ron Kind (D-WI), Phil English (R-PA), C.W. "Bill" Young (R-FL), Jo Ann Emerson (R-MO), Jason Altmire (D-PA), Joe Courtney (D-CT) and Jim Ramstad (R-MN).

"We thank the SHOP Act co-sponsors for their leadership and for seeking to address the runaway costs of health care that make comprehensive health insurance increasingly difficult for small and mid-size employers and families to obtain," said William E. Gaskin, President of PMA.

The SHOP Act would allow small businesses to join together to acquire lower health insurance premiums, ban health status ratings that increase rates due to an employee getting sick, and provide tax credits for small business owners to offset contributions to employee premiums. The bill has also been introduced in the Senate, where the sponsors include Senators Richard Durbin (D-IL), Olympia Snowe (R-ME) and Norm Coleman (R-MN).

"Rising health care costs are a major concern for U.S. metalforming manufacturers. In the past eight years, PMA member companies have seen group premiums for family coverage rise by over 60 percent," said Gaskin. "The SHOP Act would make a significant impact on our members' ability to compete in the global marketplace by holding down rising health insurance costs - without undertaking a major overhaul of the health insurance system. If Members of Congress want to help small businesses compete, they need to support the SHOP Act."

The Precision Metalforming Association (PMA) is the full-service trade association representing the $91-billion metalforming industry of North America - the industry that creates precision metal products using stamping, fabricating and other value-added processes. Its nearly 1,200 member companies include metal stampers, hot-rolled fabricators, spinners, slide formers and roll formers as well as suppliers of equipment, materials and services to the industry. Members are located in 30 countries, with the majority found in North America (in 41 states of the U.S.) as well as Canada and Mexico.

Additional information on PMA can be found at www.metalformingadvocate.org or by contacting Amanda Lahan at (202) 466-6210 or Amanda.Lahan@pbnco.com.