II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 684 

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to repeal the excise tax 

on high-cost employer-sponsored health coverage. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 6, 2019 

Mr. HEINRICH (for himself, Mr. ROUNDS, Mrs. SHAHEEN, Mr. WICKER, Mr. 

PORTMAN, Mr. SULLIVAN, Ms. MURKOWSKI, Mr. GARDNER, Mr. BOOZMAN, Ms. HASSAN, Ms. DUCKWORTH, Ms. STABENOW, Mr. SCOTT of 

South Carolina, Mr. PETERS, Mr. INHOFE, Ms. ERNST, Mr. MURPHY, 

Ms. CORTEZ MASTO, Mr. CASEY, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mr. YOUNG, Mrs. 

FISCHER, Ms. HARRIS, and Mr. BROWN) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance 

A BILL 

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to repeal 

the excise tax on high-cost employer-sponsored health 

coverage. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Middle Class Health 

5 Benefits Tax Repeal Act of 2019’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. REPEAL OF EXCISE TAX ON HIGH COST EMPLOYER2 SPONSORED HEALTH COVERAGE. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 43 of the Internal Rev4 enue Code of 1986 is amended by striking section 4980I. 

5 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

6 (1) Section 6051 of such Code is amended— 

7 (A) in paragraph (14) of subsection (a), by 

8 striking ‘‘section 4980I(d)(1)’’ and inserting 

9 ‘‘subsection (g)’’, and 

10 (B) by adding at the end the following: 

11 ‘‘(g) APPLICABLE EMPLOYER-SPONSORED COV12 ERAGE.—For purposes of subsection (a)(14)— 

13 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘applicable em14 ployer-sponsored coverage’ means, with respect to 

15 any employee, coverage under any group health plan 

16 made available to the employee by an employer 

17 which is excludable from the employee’s gross in18 come under section 106, or would be so excludable 

19 if it were employer-provided coverage (within the 

20 meaning of such section 106). 

21 ‘‘(2) EXCEPTIONS.—The term ‘applicable em22 ployer-sponsored coverage’ shall not include— 

23 ‘‘(A) any coverage (whether through insur24 ance or otherwise) described in section 

25 9832(c)(1) (other than subparagraph (G) there26 of) or for long-term care, or 


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1 ‘‘(B) any coverage under a separate policy, 

2 certificate, or contract of insurance which pro3 vides benefits substantially all of which are for 

4 treatment of the mouth (including any organ or 

5 structure within the mouth) or for treatment of 

6 the eye, or 

7 ‘‘(C) any coverage described in section 

8 9832(c)(3) the payment for which is not exclud9 able from gross income and for which a deduc10 tion under section 162(l) is not allowable. 

11 ‘‘(3) COVERAGE INCLUDES EMPLOYEE PAID

12 PORTION.—Coverage shall be treated as applicable 

13 employer-sponsored coverage without regard to 

14 whether the employer or employee pays for the cov15 erage. 

16 ‘‘(4) GOVERNMENTAL PLANS INCLUDED.—Ap17 plicable employer-sponsored coverage shall include 

18 coverage under any group health plan established 

19 and maintained primarily for its civilian employees 

20 by the Government of the United States, by the gov21 ernment of any State or political subdivision thereof, 

22 or by any agency or instrumentality of any such gov23 ernment. 

24 ‘‘(5) COST OF COVERAGE.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) HEALTH FSAS.—In the case of appli2 cable employer-sponsored coverage consisting of 

3 coverage under a flexible spending arrangement 

4 (as defined in section 106(c)(2)), the cost of the 

5 coverage shall be equal to the amount deter6 mined under rules similar to the rules of section 

7 4980B(f)(4) with respect to any reimbursement 

8 under the arrangement reduced by the contribu9 tions described in subsection (a)(14)(B). 

10 ‘‘(B) ARCHER MSAS AND HSAS.—In the 

11 case of applicable employer-sponsored coverage 

12 consisting of coverage under an arrangement 

13 under which the employer makes contributions 

14 described in subsection (b) or (d) of section 

15 106, the cost of the coverage shall be equal to 

16 the amount of employer contributions under the 

17 arrangement. 

18 ‘‘(C) ALLOCATION ON A MONTHLY

19 BASIS.—If cost is determined on other than a 

20 monthly basis, the cost shall be allocated to 

21 months in a taxable period on such basis as the 

22 Secretary may prescribe.’’. 

23 (2) Section 9831(d)(1) of such Code is amend24 ed by striking ‘‘except as provided in section 

25 4980I(f)(4) and’’. 


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1 (3) The table of sections for chapter 43 of such 

2 Code is amended by striking the item relating to sec3 tion 4980I. 

4 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

5 this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after 

6 December 31, 2019. 

Æ 


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