Emergency Retiree Health Benefits Protection Act of 2009
Latest action · Apr 29, 2009 Referred to the Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions.
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.
- IntroducedMar 5, 2009
- Passed HouseNot reached
- Passed SenateNot reached
- To the PresidentNot reached
- Became lawNot reached
Summary
Emergency Retiree Health Benefits Protection Act of 2009 - Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) to add a program for emergency retiree health benefit protections.
Prohibits group health plans from reducing retiree health benefits after the retirement of a plan beneficiary. Requires such plans to adopt provisions barring post-retirement reductions in retiree health benefits.
Requires group health plan sponsors to grant retired plan participants the option of benefit restoration. Authorizes the Secretary of Labor to waive or vary requirements for benefit restoration if compliance with such requirements would: (1) be adverse to the interests of plan participants in the aggregate; (2) not be administratively feasible; and (3) cause substantial business hardship to plan sponsors.
Establishes the Emergency Retiree Health Loan Guarantee Program. Authorizes the Program to guarantee loans provided by private financial institutions to assist plan sponsors in meeting benefit restoration obligations under this Act. Terminates loan guarantee authority after 2015.
Authorizes the Secretary to assess civil penalties for violations of this Act.
Cosponsors 59
Members who signed on, in the order they did. Signatures ran from Mar 5, 2009 to Jul 13, 2010, with 2 there on the day it was introduced.
| Seat | Cosponsor | Signed on | |
|---|---|---|---|
| D-CA | George Miller | Original | Mar 5, 2009 |
| D-NJ | Robert E. Andrews | Original | Mar 5, 2009 |
| D-MI | Bart Stupak | Apr 21, 2009 | |
| D-NH | Carol Shea-Porter | Apr 21, 2009 | |
| D-MI | Dale E. Kildee | Apr 21, 2009 | |
| D-MA | James P. McGovern | Apr 21, 2009 | |
| D-NY | Jerrold Nadler | Apr 21, 2009 | |
| D-WA | Jim McDermott | Apr 21, 2009 | |
| D-NY | John J. Hall | Apr 21, 2009 | |
| D-MD | John P. Sarbanes | Apr 21, 2009 | |
| D-MA | John W. Olver | Apr 21, 2009 | |
| D-IL | Phil Hare | Apr 21, 2009 | |
| D-AZ | Raúl M. Grijalva | Apr 21, 2009 | |
| D-NY | Steve Israel | Apr 21, 2009 | |
| D-NY | Timothy H. Bishop | Apr 21, 2009 |
Actions 3
Everything that happened, newest first.
- Apr 29, 2009Referred to the Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions.
- Mar 5, 2009Introduced in House
- Mar 5, 2009Referred to the House Committee on Education and Labor.
Subjects
Assigned by the Library of Congress. Policy area: Health.
Text 1
Each version as it was printed, newest first.
- Mar 5, 2009Introduced 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.