Affordable Health Care Act
Latest action · Jan 24, 2005 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance. (text of measure as introduced: CR S184-204)
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.
- IntroducedJan 24, 2005
- Passed SenateNot reached
- Passed HouseNot reached
- To the PresidentNot reached
- Became lawNot reached
Summary
Affordable Health Care Act - Amends the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to revise provisions governing the importation of prescription drugs. Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services to promulgate regulations allowing the importation of prescription drugs from certain countries.
Allows the Secretary to require the sponsor of an approved drug to conduct one or more studies that confirms or refutes a credible hypothesis of a significant safety issue.
Amends the Public Health Service Act to establish the Office of Health Information Technology to improve the quality and efficiency of health care delivery through the use of health information technology.
Requires the Secretary, the Secretary of Defense, and the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to establish uniform health care quality measures and public reporting requirements across all federally supported health delivery programs.
Amends the Social Security Act (SSA) to give States the option to expand or add coverage of children, pregnant women, and legal immigrants under titles XIX (Medicaid) and XXI (State Children's Health Insurance) (SCHIP).
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow certain small business employers a refundable tax credit for a portion of their employee health insurance costs.
Amends SSA to set forth provisions (as a new title XXII) addressing health insurance coverage for small businesses.
Cosponsors 17
Members who signed on, in the order they did. Signatures ran from Jan 24, 2005 to Feb 3, 2005; 14 are original cosponsors, there from the day it was introduced.
| Seat | Cosponsor | Signed on | |
|---|---|---|---|
| D-MD | Barbara A. Mikulski | Original | Jan 24, 2005 |
| D-MI | Carl Levin | Original | Jan 24, 2005 |
| D-NY | Charles E. Schumer | Original | Jan 24, 2005 |
| D-CT | Christopher J. Dodd | Original | Jan 24, 2005 |
| D-HI | Daniel K. Akaka | Original | Jan 24, 2005 |
| D-HI | Daniel K. Inouye | Original | Jan 24, 2005 |
| D-MI | Debbie Stabenow | Original | Jan 24, 2005 |
| D-NJ | Frank R. Lautenberg | Original | Jan 24, 2005 |
| D-NV | Harry Reid | Original | Jan 24, 2005 |
| D-WV | John D. Rockefeller IV | Original | Jan 24, 2005 |
| D-MA | John F. Kerry | Original | Jan 24, 2005 |
| D-NJ | Jon S. Corzine | Original | Jan 24, 2005 |
| D-AR | Mark L. Pryor | Original | Jan 24, 2005 |
| D-IL | Richard J. Durbin | Original | Jan 24, 2005 |
| D-MN | Mark Dayton | Jan 25, 2005 |
Committees 1
Where it was sent and what each committee and subcommittee did with it, in order.
| Chamber | Committee | What it did |
|---|---|---|
| Senate | Finance Committee | Referred Jan 24, 2005 |
Actions 3
Everything that happened, newest first.
- Jan 24, 2005Introduced in Senate
- Jan 24, 2005Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S183-184)
- Jan 24, 2005Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance. (text of measure as introduced: CR S184-204)
In the Congressional Record 1
Days the Record’s own index lists this bill, newest first, with the pages and the members it names. Pages starting H are the House, S the Senate, E Extensions of Remarks.
| Where | In the Record | Members | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Senate | Debate and remarks S110, S111, S127, S183Text printed S184–S204 | Edward M. Kennedy D-MA (text), Harry Reid D-NV, William H. Frist R-TN | Jan 24, 2005 |
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.
CRS reports 1
Congressional Research Service work that CRS links to this bill or the law it became, newest first.
Cite it 1
Products on other subjects that cite it, usually among other measures.
| Product | Title | Kind | Published |
|---|---|---|---|
| RL32858 | Health Information Technology: Promoting Electronic Connectivity in Healthcare Archived | Report | Apr 13, 2005 |
Titles 2
Every title it has carried, official and short, at each stage.
- Official Title as Introduced
- A bill to reduce to the cost of quality health care coverage and improve the availability of health care coverage for all Americans.
- Short Titles as Introduced
- Affordable Health Care Act
Subjects
Assigned by the Library of Congress. Policy area: Health.
- Access to health care
- Administrative procedure
- Block grants
- Child health
- Civil Rights and Liberties, Minority Issues
- Clinical trials
- Commerce
- Communication in medicine
- Computer software
- Conflict of interests
- Congress
- Congressional investigations
- Congressional reporting requirements
- Consumer education
- Contraceptives
- Crime and Law Enforcement
- Department of Health and Human Services
- Drug abuse
- Drug abuse prevention
- Drug adulteration
- Drug industry
- Drug interactions
- Drug therapy
- Drug traffic
- Drugs
- Economics and Public Finance
- Employee health benefits
- Executive Office of the President
- Executive reorganization
- Exports
- Families
- Family planning and birth control
- Federal aid to child health services
- Federal aid to health facilities
- Federal employees
- Federally-guaranteed loans
- Finance and Financial Sector
- Fines (Penalties)
- Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
- Foreign Trade and International Finance
- Government Operations and Politics
- Government publicity
- Health
- Health counseling
- Health information systems
- Health insurance
- Health planning
- Health warnings
- Immigrant health
- Immigration
- Import restrictions
- Income tax
- Information technology
- Injunctions
- Insurance premiums
- Labor and Employment
- Law
- Legislation
- Licenses
- Maternal health services
- Medicaid
- Medical records
- Medical technology
- Medically uninsured
- Pregnant women
- Presidential appointments
- Public-private partnerships
- Quality of care
- Right of privacy
- Science, Technology, Communications
- Small business
- Smoking
- Social Welfare
- Standards
- Tax credits
- Tax deductions
- Tax exemption
- Tax refunds
- Tax returns
- Taxation
- Welfare eligibility
- Whistle blowing
- Women
- Women's health
Text 1
Each version as it was printed, newest first.
- Jan 24, 2005Introduced in Senate
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.