Small business owners need cheap insurance coverage but are often denied cheaper insurance since their pool of employees is too small. Worst yet, you are not allowed TRUE INSURANCE ODDS for themselves or their employees screened for engaging in a healthy lifestyles. You get no brownie points for going to the gym and keeping yourself physically fits, not engaging in risky lifestyle choice, not being gay, not being obese, having good genetics … in short, they group all the high-risk folks together and give an inflated rate charge. Policy holders have to pay for all the life style choice losers.

Starting in 2009, businesses with 50 or fewer employees would be required to purchase their health insurance through a newly created Washington Health Insurance Partnership (WHP), instead of directly from private health-insurance companies.

A 12-member board would oversee the partnership. All health plans now sold to small businesses could be offered through the pool. But the board would design and promote up to six different health-insurance plans that employees could choose from, ranging from a catastrophic plan to comprehensive coverage.

The bill calls for subsidizing coverage for people who make under 200 percent of the federal poverty level — about $20,000 a year for a single person.

Cody figures the pool could grow to as many as 500,000 people. She believes that will increase competition and reduce premiums. She also says the bill would give employees more choices and allow them to keep the same health plan when they move from job to job.