Health Care Reform

Resolved that NAHB urge the Administration and Congress to create an environment which will encourage, support and provide incentives to our free enterprise system through a market-based approach to health care reform that will:

1. Provide universal access to health insurance for legal residents, rather than guaranteed/mandated coverage,
2. Improve access to health care at the individual level by providing a refundable tax credit for health expenses for low- and moderate income Americans, permanently increase the tax deduction for health insurance costs of the self-employed from 25 percent to 100 percent; and promote tax-deferred individual medical savings Individual Retirement Accounts (“Medisave” accounts).
3. Enact meaningful medical malpractice reforms,
4. Promote cost containment,
5. Preserve existing association-sponsored health programs as viable mechanisms for pooling risks and increasing the market leverage of small employers, and

Further resolved that NAHB reaffirm is strong opposition to:

1. Any attempt to reclassify independent contractors as employees for the purpose of mandating health care coverage,
2. Any attempt to change the treatment of Subchapter S and partnership income to increase taxes to pay for health care,
3. Broad employer mandate as the vehicle to provide health insurance/universal coverage to all employees,
4. Federal control of the state-based workers’ compensation system.

Committee with primary jurisdiction:

• Federal Government Affairs Committee