Protection from Obamacare Mandates and Congressional Equity Act

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 64 To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide an exemption to the individual mandate to maintain health coverage for individuals residing in counties with fewer than 2 health insurance issuers offering plans on an Exchange; to require Members of Congress and congressional staff to abide by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act with respect to health insurance coverage; and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JANUARY 4, 2021 Mr. BIGGS introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committees on Energy and Commerce, House Administration, and Oversight and Reform, for a pe- riod to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for con- sideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the com- mittee concerned A BILL To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide an exemption to the individual mandate to maintain health coverage for individuals residing in counties with fewer than 2 health insurance issuers offering plans on an Exchange; to require Members of Congress and con- gressional staff to abide by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act with respect to health insurance coverage; and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:36 Jan 12, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H64.IH H64 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 64 IH SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Protection from 2 Obamacare Mandates and Congressional Equity Act’’. 3 SEC. 2. MODIFICATIONS TO EXEMPTION FROM REQUIRE- 4 MENT TO MAINTAIN HEALTH COVERAGE. 5 (a) EXEMPTION FOR INDIVIDUALS IN AREAS WITH 6 FEWER THAN 2 ISSUERS OFFERING PLANS ON AN EX- 7 CHANGE.—Section 5000A(e) of the Internal Revenue Code 8 of 1986 is amended by adding at the end the following 9 new paragraph: 10 ‘‘(6) INDIVIDUALS IN AREAS WITH FEWER 11 THAN 2 ISSUERS OFFERING PLANS ON AN EX- 12 CHANGE.— 13 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Any applicable indi- 14 vidual for any period during a calendar year if 15 there are fewer than 2 health insurance issuers 16 offering qualified health plans on an Exchange 17 for such period in the county in which the ap- 18 plicable individual resides. 19 ‘‘(B) AGGREGATION RULES.—For purposes 20 of subparagraph (A), all health insurance 21 issuers treated as a single employer under sub- 22 section (a) or (b) of section 52, or subsection 23 (m) or (o) of section 414, shall be treated as a 24 single health insurance issuer.’’. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:36 Jan 12, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H64.IH H64 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 64 IH (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 1 this section shall apply to months beginning after the date 2 of the enactment of this Act. 3 SEC. 3. HEALTH INSURANCE COVERAGE FOR CERTAIN 4 CONGRESSIONAL STAFF AND MEMBERS OF 5 THE EXECUTIVE BRANCH. 6 Section 1312(d)(3)(D) of the Patient Protection and 7 Affordable Care Act (42 U.S.C. 18032(d)(3)(D)) is 8 amended— 9 (1) by striking the subparagraph heading and 10 inserting the following: 11 ‘‘(D) MEMBERS OF CONGRESS, CONGRES- 12 SIONAL STAFF, AND POLITICAL APPOINTEES IN 13 THE EXCHANGE.—’’; 14 (2) in clause (i), in the matter preceding sub- 15 clause (I)— 16 (A) by striking ‘‘and congressional staff 17 with’’ and inserting ‘‘, congressional staff, the 18 President, the Vice President, and political ap- 19 pointees with’’; and 20 (B) by striking ‘‘or congressional staff 21 shall’’ and inserting ‘‘, congressional staff, the 22 President, the Vice President, or a political ap- 23 pointee shall’’; 24 (3) in clause (ii)— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:36 Jan 12, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H64.IH H64 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 64 IH (A) in subclause (II), by inserting after 1 ‘‘Congress,’’ the following: ‘‘of a committee of 2 Congress, or of a leadership office of Con- 3 gress,’’; and 4 (B) by adding at the end the following: 5 ‘‘(III) POLITICAL APPOINTEE.— 6 The term ‘political appointee’ means 7 any individual who— 8 ‘‘(aa) is employed in a posi- 9 tion described under sections 10 5312 through 5316 of title 5, 11 United States Code (relating to 12 the Executive Schedule); 13 ‘‘(bb) is a limited term ap- 14 pointee, limited emergency ap- 15 pointee, or noncareer appointee 16 in the Senior Executive Service, 17 as defined under paragraphs (5), 18 (6), and (7), respectively, of sec- 19 tion 3132(a) of title 5, United 20 States Code; or 21 ‘‘(cc) is employed in a posi- 22 tion in the executive branch of 23 the Government of a confidential 24 or policy-determining character 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:36 Jan 12, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H64.IH H64 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 64 IH under schedule C of subpart C of 1 part 213 of title 5 of the Code of 2 Federal Regulations.’’; and 3 (4) by adding at the end the following: 4 ‘‘(iii) GOVERNMENT CONTRIBUTION.— 5 No Government contribution under section 6 8906 of title 5, United States Code, shall 7 be provided on behalf of an individual who 8 is a Member of Congress, a congressional 9 staff member, the President, the Vice 10 President, or a political appointee for cov- 11 erage under this paragraph. 12 ‘‘(iv) LIMITATION ON AMOUNT OF TAX 13 CREDIT OR COST SHARING.—An individual 14 enrolling in health insurance coverage pur- 15 suant to this paragraph shall not be eligi- 16 ble to receive a tax credit under section 17 36B of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 18 or reduced cost sharing under section 1402 19 of this Act in an amount that exceeds the 20 total amount for which a similarly situated 21 individual (who is not so enrolled) would be 22 entitled to receive under such sections. 23 ‘‘(v) LIMITATION ON DISCRETION FOR 24 DESIGNATION OF STAFF.—Notwithstand- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:36 Jan 12, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H64.IH H64 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 64 IH ing any other provision of law, a Member 1 of Congress shall not have discretion in de- 2 terminations with respect to which employ- 3 ees employed by the office of such Member 4 are eligible to enroll for coverage through 5 an Exchange. 6 ‘‘(vi) CLARIFICATION.—The terms 7 ‘small employer’ (as defined under section 8 1304(b)(2)) and ‘qualified employers’ (as 9 defined under subsection (f)) do not in- 10 clude the Congress, with respect to enroll- 11 ments in an Exchange and a SHOP Ex- 12 change.’’. 13 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:36 Jan 12, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H64.IH H64 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS