Congressman Onder Introduces the Self-Insurance Protection Act

Washington, D.C. – Congressman Bob Onder introduced the Self-Insurance Protection Act, protecting the ability of America’s small businesses to choose the best health insurance plan for them and their employees.

Traditional health insurance plans are often expensive for America’s small businesses and their employees. This leads many businesses to opt in to a self-insured health care model with the protection of reinsurance – which protects the employer in the event of unexpected high claims. In 2022, 103 million Americans relied on these plans for their own healthcare coverage; however, since the Obama Administration these plans have been under attack at both the state and federal level. The Self-Insurance Protection Act protects and expands access to self-insured plans by clarifying that reinsurance may not be federally regulated as traditional health insurance and requires states to pass reasonable regulations on reinsurance to ensure that self-insurance remains accessible to small businesses.

“Americans deserve autonomy in their health coverage decisions, and small businesses should be able to choose the health plan best suited to themselves and their employees. The Self-Insurance Protection Act ensures America’s businesses both large and small can choose the right healthcare plan for their employees without unnecessary government intervention,” said Congressman Onder.

“At a time when health care costs are on the rise, we need to give businesses more tools to control their costs, not fewer. Unfortunately, Democrat-led states are intent on saddling self-insured health plans that use reinsurance to insulate themselves from unexpected high claims with more regulations by subjecting them to state health insurance law. This legislation confirms the obvious – reinsurance is different from health insurance and should not be regulated as such. Millions of Americans depend on self-insured employer-sponsored health plans. The Self-Insurance Protection Act will defend their access to high quality and affordable health care,” said Education and Workforce Committee Chairman, Rep. Walberg.

Similar legislation has been introduced by Rep. Phil Roe (R-TN) and Rep. Bob Good (R-VA).

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