Ensuring Coverage in Public Health Emergencies Act of 2021

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 526 To provide for special enrollment periods during public health emergencies. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JANUARY 28, 2021 Mr. DOGGETT (for himself, Mr. FITZPATRICK, Ms. DEGETTE, Mr. BRENDAN F. BOYLE of Pennsylvania, Mr. MICHAEL F. DOYLE of Pennsylvania, Mr. BEYER, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Mr. BUTTERFIELD, Mr. CA´RDENAS, Mr. COHEN, Mr. CONNOLLY, Mr. COOPER, Mr. CROW, Ms. DELAURO, Mr. DEUTCH, Mr. EVANS, Mr. HASTINGS, Mrs. HAYES, Ms. HOULAHAN, Mr. KHANNA, Mr. LIEU, Ms. MOORE of Wisconsin, Mr. NADLER, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Mr. NEGUSE, Ms. OMAR, Mr. POCAN, Ms. PORTER, Mr. RYAN, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. SCHNEIDER, Mr. TRONE, Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ, Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, Mr. WELCH, Ms. WILD, Ms. SPANBERGER, Ms. SA´NCHEZ, Mr. DANNY K. DAVIS of Illinois, and Ms. ROSS) intro- duced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committees on Ways and Means, and Education and Labor, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall with- in the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To provide for special enrollment periods during public health emergencies. 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 02:21 Feb 16, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H526.IH H526 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 526 IH SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Ensuring Coverage in 2 Public Health Emergencies Act of 2021’’. 3 SEC. 2. SPECIAL ENROLLMENT PERIODS DURING PUBLIC 4 HEALTH EMERGENCIES. 5 (a) PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE ACT.—Title XXVII of 6 the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 300gg et seq.) 7 is amended— 8 (1) in section 2702(b)(2) (42 U.S.C. 300gg– 9 1(b)(2)), by inserting ‘‘, which shall include a special 10 enrollment period of 30 days during a public health 11 emergency declared under section 319, which period 12 may be extended for such time as the Secretary may 13 require’’ before the period at the end; and 14 (2) in section 2704(f) (42 U.S.C. 300gg–3(f)), 15 by adding at the end the following: 16 ‘‘(4) PUBLIC HEALTH EMERGENCIES.—If the 17 Secretary declares a public health emergency under 18 section 319, a group health plan, and a group health 19 insurance issuer offering group health insurance cov- 20 erage in connection with a group health plan, shall 21 permit an employee who is eligible, but not enrolled, 22 for coverage under the terms of the plan or coverage 23 (or a dependent of such an employee if the depend- 24 ent is eligible, but not enrolled, for coverage under 25 such terms) to enroll for coverage under the terms 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:21 Feb 16, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H526.IH H526 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 526 IH of the plan or coverage during the special enrollment 1 period required under section 2702(b)(2) of the Pub- 2 lic Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 300gg–1(b)(2)).’’. 3 (b) ERISA.—Section 701(f) of the Employee Retire- 4 ment Income Security Act of 1974 (29 U.S.C. 1181(f)) 5 is amended by adding at the end the following: 6 ‘‘(4) PUBLIC HEALTH EMERGENCIES.—If the 7 Secretary of Health and Human Services declares a 8 public health emergency under section 319 of the 9 Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 247d), a 10 group health plan, or a health insurance issuer offer- 11 ing group health insurance coverage in connection 12 with such a plan, shall permit an employee who is 13 eligible, but not enrolled, for coverage under the 14 terms of the plan or coverage (or a dependent of 15 such an employee if the dependent is eligible, but 16 not enrolled, for coverage under such terms) to en- 17 roll for coverage under the terms of the plan or cov- 18 erage during the special enrollment period required 19 under section 2702(b)(2) of the Public Health Serv- 20 ice Act (42 U.S.C. 300gg–1(b)(2)).’’. 21 (c) IRC.—Section 9801(f) of the Internal Revenue 22 Code of 1986 (26 U.S.C. 9801(f)) is amended by adding 23 at the end the following new paragraph: 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:21 Feb 16, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H526.IH H526 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 526 IH ‘‘(4) PUBLIC HEALTH EMERGENCIES.—If the 1 Secretary of Health and Human Services declares a 2 public health emergency under section 319 of the 3 Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 247d), a 4 group health plan shall permit an employee who is 5 eligible, but not enrolled, for coverage under the 6 terms of the plan (or a dependent of such an em- 7 ployee if the dependent is eligible, but not enrolled, 8 for coverage under such terms) to enroll for coverage 9 under the terms of the plan during the special en- 10 rollment period required under section 2702(b)(2) of 11 the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 300gg– 12 1(b)(2)).’’. 13 (d) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in the 14 amendments made by this section shall be construed to 15 prevent a group health plan or health insurance issuer 16 from offering a special enrollment period in addition to 17 any such period required under Federal law. 18 SEC. 3. EFFECTIVE DATE; APPLICATION. 19 The amendments made by this Act shall take effect 20 on the date of enactment of this Act and shall apply with 21 respect to plan years in effect on the date of enactment 22 of this Act, and plan years beginning on or after such 23 date. 24 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:21 Feb 16, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H526.IH H526 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS