Health Care for Working Families Act of 2003
Latest action · Oct 9, 2003 Referred to the Subcommittee on Civil Service and Agency Organization.
Progress
Where this bill reached, and when. A stage with no date was not reached; one that failed a vote and later carried shows the date it carried.
- IntroducedSep 16, 2003
- Passed HouseNot reached
- Passed SenateNot reached
- To the PresidentNot reached
- Became lawNot reached
Summary
Requires each large employer to: (1) offer to each of its employees the opportunity to enroll in a qualifying health benefit plan that provides coverage for the employee and the employee's family; (2) contribute to the cost of such plan; and (3) withhold the employee share of the plan premium from the employee's wages.
Defines a large employer as one that employed an average of at least 50 full-time employees (including contract workers) on business days during the preceding calendar year, and employs at least 50 employees on the first day of the plan year.
Defines a qualifying health benefit plan as one that: (1) provides benefits for health care items and services actuarially equivalent to or greater in value than those offered as of January 1, 2004, under the Blue Cross-Blue Shield (BC-BS) Standard Plan provided under the Federal Employees Health Benefit Program (FEHBP); and (2) meets applicable requirements under the Public Health Service Act. Sets the minimum required contribution by an employer at the same portion of the total premium as the Federal Government pays for such BC-BS Standard Plan under FEHBP.
Requires any employee covered under a Federal health insurance program (including Medicare, Medicaid, FEHBP, and the Civilian Health and Medical Program of the Uniformed Services), with certain exceptions, to accept an employer's offer of health insurance coverage and agree to payroll withholdings, or request the Federal health insurance program to pay the employee share of the premium.
Amends the Public Health Service Act to require a health insurance issuer that offers employee health insurance coverage to an employer to ensure that it complies with requirements of this Act.
Cosponsors
Members who signed on, in the order they did.
Committees 5
Where it was sent and what each committee and subcommittee did with it, in order.
| Chamber | Committee | What it did |
|---|---|---|
| House | Education and Workforce Committee | Referred Sep 16, 2003 |
| Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions Subcommittee | Referred Oct 6, 2003 | |
| Workforce Protections Subcommittee | Referred Oct 6, 2003 | |
| House | Energy and Commerce Committee | Referred Sep 16, 2003 |
| Health Subcommittee | Referred Sep 23, 2003 | |
| House | Ways and Means Committee | Referred Sep 16, 2003 |
| Health Subcommittee | Referred Sep 23, 2003 | |
| House | Oversight and Government Reform Committee | Referred Sep 16, 2003 |
| Civil Service and Agency Organization Subcommittee | Referred Oct 9, 2003 | |
| House | Armed Services Committee | Referred Sep 16, 2003 |
| Total Force Subcommittee | Referred Oct 3, 2003 |
Actions 9
Everything that happened, newest first.
- Oct 9, 2003Referred to the Subcommittee on Civil Service and Agency Organization.
- Oct 6, 2003Referred to the Subcommittee on Employer-Employee Relations.
- Oct 6, 2003Referred to the Subcommittee on Workforce Protections.
- Oct 3, 2003Referred to the Subcommittee on Total Force.
- Oct 3, 2003Executive Comment Requested from DOD.
- Sep 23, 2003Referred to the Subcommittee on Health.
- Sep 23, 2003Referred to the Subcommittee on Health, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Chairman.
- Sep 16, 2003Introduced in House
- Sep 16, 2003Referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce, and in addition to the Committees on Energy and Commerce, Ways and Means, Government Reform, and Armed Services, 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.
Research
What has been written about this bill: committee reports, cost estimates, the sponsor’s authority statement, printed hearings and the Congressional Research Service’s work.
Printed hearings 1
Hearings whose printed record names this bill, newest first: hearings on it, and wider hearings where it came up.
| Number | Hearing | Committee | Held |
|---|---|---|---|
| Serial No. 108-1 | THE DO NOT CALL LIST AUTHORIZATION39 pages | Energy and Commerce Committee | Jan 8, 2003 |
Titles 2
Every title it has carried, official and short, at each stage.
- Official Title as Introduced
- To provide health benefits for workers and their families.
- Short Titles as Introduced
- Health Care for Working Families Act of 2003
Subjects
Assigned by the Library of Congress. Policy area: Labor and Employment.
- Armed Forces and National Security
- Commerce
- Contractors
- Employee health benefits
- Families
- Federal employees
- Finance and Financial Sector
- Fines (Penalties)
- Government employees' health insurance
- Government Operations and Politics
- Health
- Health insurance
- Injunctions
- Insurance premiums
- Labor and Employment
- Law
- Medicaid
- Medical economics
- Medicare
- Military medicine
- Part-time employment
- Payroll deductions
- Social Welfare
- State laws
- Temporary employment
Text 1
Each version as it was printed, newest first.
- Sep 16, 2003Introduced in House
Everything here is as published by Congress: the summary is the Congressional Research Service's, the action wording is the clerks', and the subjects are the Library of Congress's. How far it got is read from the actions themselves, taking the most recent one of each kind, so a bill that failed a vote and later passed is shown as having passed. Records come from this bill on Congress.gov and govinfo.gov; cost estimates are the Congressional Budget Office's, and the hearings are the printed hearings GovInfo publishes, which can appear months after the hearing.