Index for HR3962: Affordable Health Care for America Act

To provide affordable, quality health care for all Americans and reduce the growth in health care spending, and for other purposes.

Mr. Dingell (for himself, Mr. Rangel, Mr. Waxman, Mr. George Miller of California, Mr. Stark, Mr. Pallone, and Mr. Andrews) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committees on Ways and Means, Education and Labor, Oversight and Government Reform, and the Budget, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

(a) In general.—Subtitle B of title I of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 is amended by adding at the end the following new part:

“PART 8—National Health Coverage Participation Requirements

“(a) In general.—An employer may make an election with the Secretary to be subject to the health coverage participation requirements.

“(b) Time and manner.—An election under subsection (a) may be made at such time and in such form and manner as the Secretary may prescribe.

“(a) In general.—If an employer makes an election to the Secretary under section 801—

“(1) such election shall be treated as the establishment and maintenance of a group health plan (as defined in section 733(a)) for purposes of this title, subject to section 251 of the ; and

“(2) the health coverage participation requirements shall be deemed to be included as terms and conditions of such plan.

“(b) Periodic investigations To discover noncompliance.—The Secretary shall regularly audit a representative sampling of employers and group health plans and conduct investigations and other activities under section 504 with respect to such sampling of plans so as to discover noncompliance with the health coverage participation requirements in connection with such plans. The Secretary shall communicate findings of noncompliance made by the Secretary under this subsection to the Secretary of the Treasury and the Health Choices Commissioner. The Secretary shall take such timely enforcement action as appropriate to achieve compliance.

“(c) Recordkeeping.—To facilitate the audits described in subsection (b), the Secretary shall promulgate recordkeeping requirements for employers to account for both employees of the employer and individuals whom the employer has not treated as employees of the employer but with whom the employer, in the course of its trade or business, has engaged for the performance of labor or services. The scope and content of such recordkeeping requirements shall be determined by the Secretary and shall be designed to ensure that employees who are not properly treated as such may be identified and properly treated.

“For purposes of this part, the term ‘health coverage participation requirements’ means the requirements of part 1 of subtitle B of title IV of division A of (as in effect on the date of the enactment of such Act).

“(a) Affiliated groups.—In the case of any employer which is part of a group of employers who are treated as a single employer under subsection (b), (c), (m), or (o) of section 414 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, the election under section 801 shall be made by such employer as the Secretary may provide. Any such election, once made, shall apply to all members of such group.

“(b) Separate elections.—Under regulations prescribed by the Secretary, separate elections may be made under section 801 with respect to—

“(1) separate lines of business, and

“(2) full-time employees and employees who are not full-time employees.

“The Secretary may terminate the election of any employer under section 801 if the Secretary (in coordination with the Health Choices Commissioner) determines that such employer is in substantial noncompliance with the health coverage participation requirements and shall refer any such determination to the Secretary of the Treasury as appropriate.

“The Secretary may promulgate such regulations as may be necessary or appropriate to carry out the provisions of this part, in accordance with section 424(a) of the . The Secretary may promulgate any interim final rules as the Secretary determines are appropriate to carry out this part.”.

(b) Enforcement of health coverage participation requirements.—Section 502 of such Act (29 U.S.C. 1132) is amended—

(1) in subsection (a)(6), by striking “paragraph” and all that follows through “subsection (c)” and inserting “paragraph (2), (4), (5), (6), (7), (8), (9), (10), or (11) of subsection (c)”; and

(2) in subsection (c), by redesignating the second paragraph (10) as paragraph (12) and by inserting after the first paragraph (10) the following new paragraph:

“(11) HEALTH COVERAGE PARTICIPATION REQUIREMENTS.—

“(A) CIVIL PENALTIES.—In the case of any employer who fails (during any period with respect to which an election under section 801(a) is in effect) to satisfy the health coverage participation requirements with respect to any employee, the Secretary may assess a civil penalty against the employer of $100 for each day in the period beginning on the date such failure first occurs and ending on the date such failure is corrected.

“(B) HEALTH COVERAGE PARTICIPATION REQUIREMENTS.—For purposes of this paragraph, the term ‘health coverage participation requirements’ has the meaning provided in section 803.

“(C) LIMITATIONS ON AMOUNT OF PENALTY.—

“(i) PENALTY NOT TO APPLY WHERE FAILURE NOT DISCOVERED EXERCISING REASONABLE DILIGENCE.—No penalty shall be assessed under subparagraph (A) with respect to any failure during any period for which it is established to the satisfaction of the Secretary that the employer did not know, or exercising reasonable diligence would not have known, that such failure existed.

“(ii) PENALTY NOT TO APPLY TO FAILURES CORRECTED WITHIN 30 DAYS.—No penalty shall be assessed under subparagraph (A) with respect to any failure if—

“(I) such failure was due to reasonable cause and not to willful neglect, and

“(II) such failure is corrected during the 30-day period beginning on the 1st date that the employer knew, or exercising reasonable diligence would have known, that such failure existed.

“(iii) OVERALL LIMITATION FOR UNINTENTIONAL FAILURES.—In the case of failures which are due to reasonable cause and not to willful neglect, the penalty assessed under subparagraph (A) for failures during any 1-year period shall not exceed the amount equal to the lesser of—

“(I) 10 percent of the aggregate amount paid or incurred by the employer (or predecessor employer) during the preceding 1-year period for group health plans, or

“(II) $500,000.

“(D) ADVANCE NOTIFICATION OF FAILURE PRIOR TO ASSESSMENT.—Before a reasonable time prior to the assessment of any penalty under this paragraph with respect to any failure by an employer, the Secretary shall inform the employer in writing of such failure and shall provide the employer information regarding efforts and procedures which may be undertaken by the employer to correct such failure.

“(E) COORDINATION WITH EXCISE TAX.—Under regulations prescribed in accordance with section 424 of the , the Secretary and the Secretary of the Treasury shall coordinate the assessment of penalties under this section in connection with failures to satisfy health coverage participation requirements with the imposition of excise taxes on such failures under section 4980H(b) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 so as to avoid duplication of penalties with respect to such failures.

“(F) DEPOSIT OF PENALTY COLLECTED.—Any amount of penalty collected under this paragraph shall be deposited as miscellaneous receipts in the Treasury of the United States.”.

(c) Clerical amendments.—The table of contents in section 1 of such Act is amended by inserting after the item relating to section 734 the following new items:

(d) Effective date.—The amendments made by this section shall apply to periods beginning after December 31, 2012.