{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-dr-rand-paul-applauds-administration-follow-through-expanding-access-association-health-plans/", "Dr. Rand Paul Applauds Administration Follow-Through on Expanding Access to Association Health Plans", "2018-01-04", "2018", "2018-01", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Rand Paul", "P000603", "www.paul.senate.gov", "paul", "https://www.paul.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:\n\nJanuary 4, 2018\n\nContact: Press@paul.senate.gov, 202-224-4343\n\nWASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Today, U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) applauded the Department of Labor\u2019s announcement of its proposed rule expanding access to Association Health Plans (AHP), a reform Dr. Paul has championed throughout the debate over the future of health care and worked directly with President Trump and administration officials to achieve.\n\nIn October 2017, Dr. Paul joined President Trump at the White House for the signing of an executive order paving the way for the change, which would increase competition and allow more Americans to join in groups to purchase lower-cost health insurance across state lines.\n\n\u201cFor the past year, I have worked with the President and his administration to dramatically increase the availability of health care while at the same time decrease the costs. I applaud the administration for its action today, and I look forward to the finalization of the proposed rule. Conservative health care reform is alive and well, and I will keep working with President Trump to build on this progress,\u201d said Dr. Paul.\n\nThe Department of Labor\u2019s proposed rule would expand the types of groups that can form an AHP and allow for membership across state lines. It would also allow self-employed individuals who have no other employees to take part in a large-group AHP, including a self-insured AHP.\n\nThe rule would continue to ensure Americans are not denied coverage or charged higher rates due to pre-existing conditions.\n\nIn addition to his work on the federal level to support expanding Association Health Plans, Dr. Paul has extensively traveled Kentucky to meet with business owners and employees regarding his proposal.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T22:48:50Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.paul.senate.gov/news-dr-rand-paul-applauds-administration-follow-through-expanding-access-association-health-plans/"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.0908530093729496, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}