Uninsured Americans might get health insurance easier if the access health care bill is passed in the U.S. Senate.

The bill's main goal is to expand health coverage by giving small businesses the ability to combine funds to purchase insurance for their employees. Another part of the bill requires direct health insurance to be completely tax deductible and asks for the creation of tax-free medical savings accounts for average Americans.

Each provision would have various effects on different segments of the population if the bill passes. The ability for small businesses to merge their resources on a national level would give 6 to 7 million Americans health insurance, said Dave Schnittger, press secretary for Rep. John Boehner, R-Ohio.

But this bill also would take the general insurance system away from individual states and put it on a national level. The consequence of this would leave the poor and sick, who have health insurance, with a smaller amount of money to use for their care, said Ken Berlack, press secretary for Rep. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio.

"The basic principle of insurance is that the large pool will help pay for treatment when people are sick," Berlack said. "But the more we fracture the basic structure (by putting small businesses on a national level), the more people will be left out."

But the ability of small businesses to purchase insurance is essential to their success, said Frank Brueske, director of membership services for Americas Small Business Association.

"This is absolutely positive," he said. "One of the biggest problems is finding major medical insurance and then finding it at a reasonable price."

He added that a national insurance fund would not be adverse because many insurance conglomerates operate in several states. "It is more important for the small businesses to get the insurance," Brueske said.

Dr. Don Bradley, executive director of the Small Business National Advancement Center, said health care is a nationwide problem because it is based on an outdated system.

"The country as a whole has to get a grip on health care," he said. "We have a system that is old and needs revamped."

The system was set up to cater to large industries, but the nation's economy is no longer fueled by industry. It is run by small business, he said.

"Insurance companies don't want to work with small businesses because they won't make as much money," Bradley said. "The secret here is the whole health care industry is out of synch, and it is not in touch with the people. I get people calling me every day that are setting up their own small business that can't get health insurance."

Opponents of this bill say a national insurance fund would raise the insurance premiums, but Brueske said small businesses that already have reasonable coverage would not enter into the general funds.

Brueske, from the business association, said what people do not realize is that some businesses have seen 300 percent increases in insurance premiums in the past three years.

"Everyone's rates are going up and driving the small business person away from insurance," he said. "This is something that is way past its time."

The natural result of smaller insurance funds is high premiums, said Bill Pierce, director of media relations for Blue Cross Blue Shield Association.

"National pools would ruin our business and make health insurance more expensive," he said. "We don't want to offer a product that is so expensive that no one can afford it, that would be bad business. But we have to put a price on it so that we won't loose tons of money."

Another provision the bill calls for is to let individuals to set up their own tax-free medical savings accounts. These accounts would be similar to individual retirement funds and contributions would be deductible from a person's income. The money in these accounts only would be available for medical expenses.

Pierce said that when the savings account idea was proposed, insurance companies were not receptive. But after further study, his company found that these accounts would not be a popular way of receiving health care if the bill passed.

"What we are discovering that this is a very sophisticated way to get your health care," he said. "It requires individuals to have a lot of information on health care, so they aren't for everyone."

Press Secretary Berlack said the eventual consequence of the medical savings accounts would be the elimination of a large part of the state's general health care funding.

The majority of the money is collected from healthy working people in the form of insurance premiums. If these citizens switch their money from the insurance premium method to a savings account, less money would be put into the state insurance system.

Therefore, the only citizens left paying into the general fund would be the sick and poor, who do not have high incomes and use the coverage the most.

Berlack said another problem with the medical savings accounts is that they do not cover routine medical needs. The money only can be used for extreme cases, like surgery.

"This is a tax device, and low income people don't pay enough taxes for this to help them, it is ignoring the real issue," he said.