In a major breakthrough for small business healthcare users, Congress is close to approving a bill permitting nationwide associations to purchase insurance.

It is reported that the bill, sponsored by Wyoming Senator Michael E. Enzi, will be passed by the House of Representatives and go to the floor of the Senate for final passage by the end of the month.

The bill will permit small companies to purchase insurance directly from Insurance providers across state lines as long as they are part of an association.

Similar proposals have languished in Congress for more than 15 years but Democratic-sponsored amendments were beaten back in Enzi’s Health, Education, Labor, Pension committee in the first week of March, and the bill appears closer to passage than at any time in the past.

State insurance regulators will oppose the bill because it permits insurance providers to bypass state-mandated requirements and offer a standardized policy across state lines.

The bill was buttressed by a report from Mercer Oliver Wyman, a Milwaukee, WI company that conducted a nationwide analysis for the National Small Business Association.

Enzi said he had assurances from Senator Edward Kennedy, (D-MA) that his party colleagues in the Senate will convene and vote by March 15th.