Improving Awareness of Health Coverage Options Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 6130 To require the Secretary of Labor to update the model COBRA continuation coverage general notice and the model COBRA continuation coverage election notice, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MARCH 9, 2020 Mr. HARDER of California (for himself and Mr. SCHRADER) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor A BILL To require the Secretary of Labor to update the model COBRA continuation coverage general notice and the model COBRA continuation coverage election notice, 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 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Improving Awareness 4 of Health Coverage Options Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:12 Mar 13, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6130.IH H6130 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 6130 IH SEC. 2. REQUIREMENT FOR SECRETARY OF LABOR TO UP- 1 DATE MODEL COBRA CONTINUATION COV- 2 ERAGE GENERAL NOTICE AND MODEL COBRA 3 CONTINUATION COVERAGE ELECTION NO- 4 TICE. 5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after the 6 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Labor, 7 in consultation with the Secretary of Health and Human 8 Services, shall update, and make publicly available in a 9 prominent location on the website of the Department of 10 Labor, the model Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconcili- 11 ation Act of 1985 (referred to in this section as 12 ‘‘COBRA’’) continuation coverage general notice and the 13 model COBRA continuation coverage election notice devel- 14 oped by the Secretary of Labor for purposes of facilitating 15 compliance of group health plans with the notification re- 16 quirements under section 606 of the Employee Retirement 17 Income Security Act of 1974 (29 U.S.C. 1166). In updat- 18 ing each such notice, the Secretary of Labor shall include 19 information regarding any Exchange established under 20 title I of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act 21 through which a qualified beneficiary may be eligible to 22 enroll in a qualified health plan, including— 23 (1) the publicly accessible internet website ad- 24 dress for such Exchange; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:12 Mar 13, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6130.IH H6130 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 6130 IH (2) the publicly accessible internet website ad- 1 dress for the Find Local Help directory maintained 2 by the Department of Health and Human Services 3 on the healthcare.gov internet website (or a suc- 4 cessor website); 5 (3) a clear explanation that— 6 (A) an individual who is eligible for con- 7 tinuation coverage may also be eligible to enroll, 8 with financial assistance, in a qualified health 9 plan offered through such Exchange, but, in the 10 case that such individual elects to enroll in such 11 continuation coverage and subsequently elects 12 to terminate such continuation coverage before 13 the period of such continuation coverage ex- 14 pires, such individual will not be eligible to en- 15 roll in a qualified health plan offered through 16 such Exchange during a special enrollment pe- 17 riod; and 18 (B) an individual who elects to enroll in 19 continuation coverage will remain eligible to en- 20 roll in a qualified health plan offered through 21 such Exchange during an open enrollment pe- 22 riod and may be eligible for financial assistance 23 with respect to enrolling in such a qualified 24 health plan; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:12 Mar 13, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6130.IH H6130 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 6130 IH (4) information on consumer protections with 1 respect to enrolling in a qualified health plan offered 2 through such Exchange, including the requirement 3 for such a qualified health plan to provide coverage 4 for essential health benefits (as defined in section 5 1302(b) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 18022(b))) and the 6 requirements applicable to such a qualified health 7 plan under part A of title XXVII of the Public 8 Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 300gg et seq.); and 9 (5) information on the availability of financial 10 assistance with respect to enrolling in a qualified 11 health plan, including the maximum income limit for 12 eligibility for a premium tax credit under section 13 36B of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986. 14 (b) NAME OF NOTICES.—In addition to updating the 15 model COBRA continuation coverage general notice and 16 the model COBRA continuation coverage election notice 17 under subsection (a), the Secretary of Labor shall rename 18 each such notice as the ‘‘model COBRA continuation cov- 19 erage and Affordable Care Act coverage general notice’’ 20 and the ‘‘model COBRA continuation coverage and Af- 21 fordable Care Act coverage election notice’’, respectively. 22 (c) CONSUMER TESTING.—Prior to making publicly 23 available the model COBRA continuation coverage general 24 notice and the model COBRA continuation coverage elec- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:12 Mar 13, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6130.IH H6130 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 6130 IH tion notice updated under subsection (a), the Secretary of 1 Labor shall provide an opportunity for consumer testing 2 of each such notice, as so updated, to ensure that each 3 such notice is clear and understandable to the average 4 participant or beneficiary of a group health plan. 5 (d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 6 (1) CONTINUATION COVERAGE.—The term 7 ‘‘continuation coverage’’, with respect to a group 8 health plan, has the meaning given such term in sec- 9 tion 602 of the Employee Retirement Income Secu- 10 rity Act of 1974 (29 U.S.C. 1162). 11 (2) GROUP HEALTH PLAN.—The term ‘‘group 12 health plan’’ has the meaning given such term in 13 section 607 of such Act (29 U.S.C. 1167). 14 (3) QUALIFIED BENEFICIARY.—The term 15 ‘‘qualified beneficiary’’ has the meaning given such 16 term in such section 607. 17 (4) QUALIFIED HEALTH PLAN.—The term 18 ‘‘qualified health plan’’ has the meaning given such 19 term in section 1301 of the Patient Protection and 20 Affordable Care Act (42 U.S.C. 18021). 21 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:12 Mar 13, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H6130.IH H6130 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS