Family Coverage Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1935 To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to ensure that working families have access to affordable health insurance coverage. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JUNE 20, 2019 Mr. BROWN (for himself, Ms. CORTEZ MASTO, Mr. CASEY, Ms. SMITH, Ms. BALDWIN, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mr. BOOKER, Mr. COONS, Mr. HEINRICH, Mr. KAINE, Mr. KING, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Mr. LEAHY, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. MERKLEY, Mr. REED, Ms. ROSEN, Mr. SANDERS, Mrs. SHAHEEN, Ms. STABENOW, and Mr. UDALL) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance A BILL To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to ensure that working families have access to affordable health insurance coverage. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Family Coverage Act’’. 4 SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 5 Notwithstanding the amendments made by section 3, 6 it is the sense of Congress that the Secretary of Health 7 and Human Services and the Secretary of the Treasury, 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:44 Jun 22, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1935.IS S1935 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •S 1935 IS within their respective jurisdictions, have the administra- 1 tive authority necessary to apply the affordability provi- 2 sion in section 36B of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 3 in such a manner as to expand access to affordable health 4 insurance coverage for working families without further 5 legislation. 6 SEC. 3. CLARIFICATION REGARDING DETERMINATION OF 7 AFFORDABILITY OF EMPLOYER-SPONSORED 8 MINIMUM ESSENTIAL COVERAGE. 9 (a) IN GENERAL.—Clause (i) of section 36B(c)(2)(C) 10 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended to read 11 as follows: 12 ‘‘(i) COVERAGE MUST BE AFFORD- 13 ABLE.— 14 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—Except as 15 provided in clause (iii), an individual 16 shall not be treated as eligible for 17 minimum essential coverage if such 18 coverage consists of an eligible em- 19 ployer-sponsored plan (as defined in 20 section 5000A(f)(2)) and the required 21 contribution with respect to the plan 22 exceeds 9.86 percent of the applicable 23 taxpayer’s household income. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:44 Jun 22, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1935.IS S1935 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •S 1935 IS ‘‘(II) REQUIRED CONTRIBUTION 1 WITH RESPECT TO EMPLOYEE.—In 2 the case of the employee eligible to en- 3 roll in the plan, the required contribu- 4 tion for purposes of subclause (I) is 5 the employee’s required contribution 6 (within the meaning of section 7 5000A(e)(1)(B)(i)) with respect to the 8 plan. 9 ‘‘(III) REQUIRED CONTRIBUTION 10 WITH RESPECT TO FAMILY MEM- 11 BERS.—In the case of an individual 12 who is eligible to enroll in the plan by 13 reason of a relationship the individual 14 bears to the employee, the required 15 contribution for purposes of subclause 16 (I) is the employee’s required con- 17 tribution (within the meaning of sec- 18 tion 5000A(e)(1)(B)(i), determined by 19 substituting ‘family’ for ‘self-only’) 20 with respect to the plan.’’. 21 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 22 (1) Clause (ii) of section 36B(c)(2)(C) of the 23 Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by add- 24 ing at the end the following: ‘‘This clause shall also 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:44 Jun 22, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1935.IS S1935 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •S 1935 IS apply to an individual who is eligible to enroll in the 1 plan by reason of a relationship the individual bears 2 to the employee.’’. 3 (2) Clause (iii) of section 36B(c)(2)(C) of such 4 Code is amended by striking ‘‘the last sentence of 5 clause (i)’’ and inserting ‘‘clause (i)(III)’’. 6 (3) Clause (iv) of section 36B(c)(2)(C) of such 7 Code is amended by striking ‘‘clause (i)(II)’’ and in- 8 serting ‘‘clause (i)(I)’’. 9 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 10 this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after 11 December 31, 2019. 12 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:44 Jun 22, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S1935.IS S1935 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS