[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6130 Introduced in House (IH)]
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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.
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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 Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Improving Awareness of Health
Coverage Options Act''.
SEC. 2. REQUIREMENT FOR SECRETARY OF LABOR TO UPDATE MODEL COBRA
CONTINUATION COVERAGE GENERAL NOTICE AND MODEL COBRA
CONTINUATION COVERAGE ELECTION NOTICE.
(a) In General.--Not later than 90 days after the date of the
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Labor, in consultation with the
Secretary of Health and Human Services, shall update, and make publicly
available in a prominent location on the website of the Department of
Labor, the model Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985
(referred to in this section as ``COBRA'') continuation coverage
general notice and the model COBRA continuation coverage election
notice developed by the Secretary of Labor for purposes of facilitating
compliance of group health plans with the notification requirements
under section 606 of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of
1974 (29 U.S.C. 1166). In updating each such notice, the Secretary of
Labor shall include information regarding any Exchange established
under title I of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act through
which a qualified beneficiary may be eligible to enroll in a qualified
health plan, including--
(1) the publicly accessible internet website address for
such Exchange;
(2) the publicly accessible internet website address for
the Find Local Help directory maintained by the Department of
Health and Human Services on the healthcare.gov internet
website (or a successor website);
(3) a clear explanation that--
(A) an individual who is eligible for continuation
coverage may also be eligible to enroll, with financial
assistance, in a qualified health plan offered through
such Exchange, but, in the case that such individual
elects to enroll in such continuation coverage and
subsequently elects to terminate such continuation
coverage before the period of such continuation
coverage expires, such individual will not be eligible
to enroll in a qualified health plan offered through
such Exchange during a special enrollment period; and
(B) an individual who elects to enroll in
continuation coverage will remain eligible to enroll in
a qualified health plan offered through such Exchange
during an open enrollment period and may be eligible
for financial assistance with respect to enrolling in
such a qualified health plan;
(4) information on consumer protections with respect to
enrolling in a qualified health plan offered through such
Exchange, including the requirement for such a qualified health
plan to provide coverage for essential health benefits (as
defined in section 1302(b) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 18022(b)))
and the requirements applicable to such a qualified health plan
under part A of title XXVII of the Public Health Service Act
(42 U.S.C. 300gg et seq.); and
(5) information on the availability of financial assistance
with respect to enrolling in a qualified health plan, including
the maximum income limit for eligibility for a premium tax
credit under section 36B of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.
(b) Name of Notices.--In addition to updating the model COBRA
continuation coverage general notice and the model COBRA continuation
coverage election notice under subsection (a), the Secretary of Labor
shall rename each such notice as the ``model COBRA continuation
coverage and Affordable Care Act coverage general notice'' and the
``model COBRA continuation coverage and Affordable Care Act coverage
election notice'', respectively.
(c) Consumer Testing.--Prior to making publicly available the model
COBRA continuation coverage general notice and the model COBRA
continuation coverage election notice updated under subsection (a), the
Secretary of Labor shall provide an opportunity for consumer testing of
each such notice, as so updated, to ensure that each such notice is
clear and understandable to the average participant or beneficiary of a
group health plan.
(d) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) Continuation coverage.--The term ``continuation
coverage'', with respect to a group health plan, has the
meaning given such term in section 602 of the Employee
Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (29 U.S.C. 1162).
(2) Group health plan.--The term ``group health plan'' has
the meaning given such term in section 607 of such Act (29
U.S.C. 1167).
(3) Qualified beneficiary.--The term ``qualified
beneficiary'' has the meaning given such term in such section
607.
(4) Qualified health plan.--The term ``qualified health
plan'' has the meaning given such term in section 1301 of the
Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (42 U.S.C. 18021).
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