The National Association of Home Builders is opposed to a last-minute provision added to the Senate healthcare bill which the group argues will "derail the fragile housing recovery and threaten the solvency of countless small homebuilding firms."

The provision would require small construction firms to provide health insurance if they employ more than five workers. All other small businesses – with the exception of the construction industry — would be exempt from providing mandatory health coverage if they employ 50 workers or less, according to NAHB.  

 "This narrow provision is an unprecedented assault on the construction industry and unjustly targets an industry trying to keep its doors open during the worst housing downturn since the Great Depression," said NAHB Chairman Joe Robson, a homebuilder from Tulsa, Okla. "If this provision were to be enacted into law, it would prove to be catastrophic for the homebuilding industry. In short, this is a true jobs killer. Thousands of small builder firms struggling to stay afloat could go under. We strongly urge the Senate to reconsider and pull this onerous provision that threatens the viability of small homebuilders across the nation."