Small Employers Health Benefits Program Act of 2005
Latest action · May 20, 2005 Referred to the Subcommittee on Employer-Employee Relations.
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.
- IntroducedApr 28, 2005
- Passed HouseNot reached
- Passed SenateNot reached
- To the PresidentNot reached
- Became lawNot reached
Summary
Small Employers Health Benefits Program Act of 2005 - Directs the Office of Personnel Management to administer a separate health insurance program for non-Federal employees who are either self-employed or employees of a small business with fewer than 100 employees.
Allows the Office to contract with carriers to provide health insurance under this Act. Requires rates charged to reasonably and equitably reflect the costs of the benefits provided. Requires a carrier to determine the amount of premiums to assess for coverage based on a community rate that may be annually adjusted based on geographic area, family status, and age.
Permits the Office to reimburse a carrier for costs that exceed premiums received by a specified percentage. Requires a carrier to make payments to a contingency reserve fund established by the Office if the carrier's costs are lower than expected by a specified percentage. Allows the Office to use such funds to provide assistance to carriers that experience unanticipated financial hardships.
Requires the Office to establish a reinsurance fund to provide payments to carriers that experience a catastrophic claim (a claim over $50,000) for benefits provided to an individual enrolled under this Act.
Allows a participating employer to offer supplemental coverage options to employees for excepted benefits that are not subject to the Public Health Service Act requirements for health plans.
Allows a refundable tax credit for health insurance expenses of small employers who pay a specific percentage of employee expenses under such a health plan.
Amends the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 to extend requirements that certain legislation which increases the deficit will trigger an offsetting sequestration (pay-as-you-go or PAYGO requirements).
Cosponsors 26
Members who signed on, in the order they did. Signatures ran from Apr 28, 2005 to Jul 11, 2006; 13 are original cosponsors, there from the day it was introduced.
| Seat | Cosponsor | Signed on | |
|---|---|---|---|
| D-WA | Adam Smith | Original | Apr 28, 2005 |
| D-AL | Artur Davis | Original | Apr 28, 2005 |
| D-MD | Chris Van Hollen | Original | Apr 28, 2005 |
| D-NC | David E. Price | Original | Apr 28, 2005 |
| D-OR | David Wu | Original | Apr 28, 2005 |
| D-TN | Harold E. Ford Jr. | Original | Apr 28, 2005 |
| D-TN | Jim Cooper | Original | Apr 28, 2005 |
| D-WA | Jim McDermott | Original | Apr 28, 2005 |
| D-WA | Norman D. Dicks | Original | Apr 28, 2005 |
| D-RI | Patrick J. Kennedy | Original | Apr 28, 2005 |
| D-IL | Rahm Emanuel | Original | Apr 28, 2005 |
| D-NJ | Robert E. Andrews | Original | Apr 28, 2005 |
| D-ME | Thomas H. Allen | Original | Apr 28, 2005 |
| D-CO | Mark Udall | May 3, 2005 | |
| D-TX | Sheila Jackson Lee | May 3, 2005 | |
| D-NJ | Rush Holt | May 25, 2005 | |
| D-CA | Adam B. Schiff | Jun 7, 2005 | |
| D-NY | Nita M. Lowey | Jun 7, 2005 | |
| D-FL | Robert Wexler | Jun 14, 2005 | |
| D-CO | John T. Salazar | Jun 22, 2005 | |
| D-NM | Tom Udall | Sep 13, 2005 | |
| D-OH | Sherrod Brown | Feb 28, 2006 | |
| D-AR | Mike Ross | May 1, 2006 | |
| D-CA | Bob Filner | May 9, 2006 | |
| D-NC | Brad Miller | May 9, 2006 | |
| D-OR | Darlene Hooley | Jul 11, 2006 |
Committees 3
Where it was sent and what each committee and subcommittee did with it, in order.
| Chamber | Committee | What it did |
|---|---|---|
| House | Ways and Means Committee | Referred Apr 28, 2005 |
| Health Subcommittee | Referred May 15, 2005 | |
| House | Education and Workforce Committee | Referred Apr 28, 2005 |
| Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions Subcommittee | Referred May 20, 2005 | |
| House | Budget Committee | Referred Apr 28, 2005 |
Actions 4
Everything that happened, newest first.
- May 20, 2005Referred to the Subcommittee on Employer-Employee Relations.
- May 15, 2005Referred to the Subcommittee on Health.
- Apr 28, 2005Introduced in House
- Apr 28, 2005Referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committees on Education and the Workforce, and the Budget, 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.
Related bills 4
Companion bills and other measures the record links to this one.
| Bill | Title | Relationship | Latest action |
|---|---|---|---|
| S 637 | Small Employers Health Benefits Program Act of 2005 | Related bill | Mar 16, 2005 |
| S 874 | Small Employers Health Benefits Program Act of 2005 | Related bill | Apr 22, 2005 |
| S 2382 | Small Employers Health Benefits Program Act of 2006 | Related bill | Mar 7, 2006 |
| S 2510 | Small Employers Health Benefits Program Act of 2006 | Related bill | Apr 5, 2006 |
Titles 2
Every title it has carried, official and short, at each stage.
- Official Title as Introduced
- To establish a national health program administered by the Office of Personnel Management to offer health benefits plans to individuals who are not Federal employees, and for other purposes.
- Short Titles as Introduced
- Small Employers Health Benefits Program Act of 2005
Subjects
Assigned by the Library of Congress. Policy area: Health.
- Administrative procedure
- Catastrophic health insurance
- Civil Rights and Liberties, Minority Issues
- Commerce
- Competitive bidding
- Congress
- Congressional reporting requirements
- Cost accounting
- Discrimination in insurance
- Discrimination in medical care
- Economics and Public Finance
- Electronic government information
- Employee health benefits
- Federal budgets
- Federal employees
- Federal preemption
- Finance and Financial Sector
- Government contractors
- Government employees' health insurance
- Government Operations and Politics
- Government paperwork
- Government publicity
- Government spending reductions
- Health
- Health insurance
- Health insurance continuation
- Income tax
- Indexing (Economic policy)
- Insurance premiums
- Internet
- Labor and Employment
- Law
- Local laws
- Medical economics
- Medically uninsured
- Medicare
- Nonprofit organizations
- Office of Personnel Management
- Reinsurance
- Science, Technology, Communications
- Self-employed
- Small business
- Social Welfare
- State laws
- Subsidies
- Tax credits
- Tax refunds
- Taxation
Text 1
Each version as it was printed, newest first.
- Apr 28, 2005Introduced 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.