II 

109TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2607 

To establish a 4-year small business health insurance information pilot 

program. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 7, 2006 

Ms. SNOWE (for herself and Mr. BENNETT) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Small Business 

and Entrepreneurship 

A BILL 

To establish a 4-year small business health insurance 

information pilot program. 

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 ‘‘Small Business Health 

5 Education and Awareness Act of 2006’’. 

6 SEC. 2. PURPOSE. 

7 The purpose of this Act is to establish a 4-year pilot 

8 program to provide information and educational materials 

9 to small business concerns regarding health insurance opVerDate Aug 31 2005 03:51 Apr 13, 2006 Jkt 049196 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2607.IS S2607

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1 tions, including coverage options within the small group 

2 market. 

3 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

4 In this Act: 

5 (1) ADMINISTRATION.—The term ‘‘Administra6 tion’’ means the Small Business Administration. 

7 (2) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis8 trator’’ means the Administrator of the Small Busi9 ness Administration, acting through the Associate 

10 Administrator for Small Business Development Cen11 ters. 

12 (3) ASSOCIATION.—The term ‘‘association’’ 

13 means an association established under section 

14 21(a)(3)(A) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 

15 648(a)(3)(A)) representing a majority of small busi16 ness development centers. 

17 (4) PARTICIPATING SMALL BUSINESS DEVELOP18 MENT CENTER.—The term ‘‘participating small 

19 business development center’’ means a small busi20 ness development center described in section 21 of 

21 the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 648) that— 

22 (A) is certified under section 21(k)(2) of 

23 the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 648(k)(2)); 

24 and 


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1 (B) receives a grant under the pilot pro2 gram. 

3 (5) PILOT PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘pilot pro4 gram’’ means the small business health insurance in5 formation pilot program established under this Act. 

6 (6) SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN.—The term 

7 ‘‘small business concern’’ has the same meaning as 

8 in section 3 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 

9 632). 

10 (7) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means each of 

11 the several States, the District of Columbia, the 

12 Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, 

13 American Samoa, and Guam. 

14 SEC. 4. SMALL BUSINESS HEALTH INSURANCE INFORMA15 TION PILOT PROGRAM. 

16 (a) AUTHORITY.—The Administrator shall establish 

17 a pilot program to make grants to small business develop18 ment centers to provide information and educational mate19 rials regarding health insurance options, including cov20 erage options within the small group market, to small 

21 business concerns. 

22 (b) APPLICATIONS.— 

23 (1) POSTING OF INFORMATION.—Not later than 

24 90 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the 

25 Administrator shall post on the website of the AdVerDate Aug 31 2005 03:51 Apr 13, 2006 Jkt 049196 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2607.IS S2607

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1 ministration and publish in the Federal Register a 

2 guidance document describing— 

3 (A) the requirements of an application for 

4 a grant under the pilot program; and 

5 (B) the types of informational and edu6 cational materials regarding health insurance 

7 options to be created under the pilot program, 

8 including by referencing such materials devel9 oped by the Healthcare Leadership Council. 

10 (2) SUBMISSION.—A small business develop11 ment center desiring a grant under the pilot pro12 gram shall submit an application at such time, in 

13 such manner, and accompanied by such information 

14 as the Administrator may reasonably require. 

15 (c) SELECTION OF PARTICIPATING SBDCS.— 

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall se17 lect not more than 20 small business development 

18 centers to receive a grant under the pilot program. 

19 (2) SELECTION OF PROGRAMS.—In selecting 

20 small business development centers under paragraph 

21 (1), the Administrator may not select— 

22 (A) more than 2 programs from each of 

23 the groups of States described in paragraph 

24 (3); and 

25 (B) more than 1 program in any State. 


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1 (3) GROUPINGS.—The groups of States de2 scribed in this paragraph are the following: 

3 (A) GROUP 1.—Group 1 shall consist of 

4 Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Con5 necticut, Vermont, and Rhode Island. 

6 (B) GROUP 2.—Group 2 shall consist of 

7 New York, New Jersey, Puerto Rico, and the 

8 Virgin Islands. 

9 (C) GROUP 3.—Group 3 shall consist of 

10 Pennsylvania, Maryland, West Virginia, Vir11 ginia, the District of Columbia, and Delaware. 

12 (D) GROUP 4.—Group 4 shall consist of 

13 Georgia, Alabama, North Carolina, South Caro14 lina, Mississippi, Florida, Kentucky, and Ten15 nessee. 

16 (E) GROUP 5.—Group 5 shall consist of Il17 linois, Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Wisconsin, and 

18 Minnesota. 

19 (F) GROUP 6.—Group 6 shall consist of 

20 Texas, New Mexico, Arkansas, Oklahoma, and 

21 Louisiana. 

22 (G) GROUP 7.—Group 7 shall consist of 

23 Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska, and Kansas. 


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1 (H) GROUP 8.—Group 8 shall consist of 

2 Colorado, Wyoming, North Dakota, South Da3 kota, Montana, and Utah. 

4 (I) GROUP 9.—Group 9 shall consist of 

5 California, Guam, American Samoa, Hawaii, 

6 Nevada, and Arizona. 

7 (J) GROUP 10.—Group 10 shall consist of 

8 Washington, Alaska, Idaho, and Oregon. 

9 (4) DEADLINE FOR SELECTION.—The Adminis10 trator shall make selections under this subsection 

11 not later than 6 months after the later of the date 

12 on which the information described in subsection 

13 (b)(1) is posted on the website of the Administration 

14 and the date on which the information described in 

15 subsection (b)(1) is published in the Federal Reg16 ister. 

17 (d) USE OF FUNDS.— 

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—A participating small busi19 ness development center shall use funds provided 

20 under the pilot program to— 

21 (A) create and distribute informational 

22 materials; and 

23 (B) conduct training and educational ac24 tivities. 


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1 (2) CONTENT OF MATERIALS.—In creating ma2 terials under the pilot program, a participating small 

3 business development center shall evaluate and in4 corporate relevant portions of existing informational 

5 materials regarding health insurance options, such 

6 as the materials created by the Healthcare Leader7 ship Council. 

8 (e) GRANT AMOUNTS.—Each participating small 

9 business development center program shall receive a grant 

10 in an amount equal to— 

11 (1) not less than $150,000 per fiscal year; and 

12 (2) not more than $300,000 per fiscal year. 

13 (f) MATCHING REQUIREMENT.—Subparagraphs (A) 

14 and (B) of section 21(a)(4) of the Small Business Act (15 

15 U.S.C. 648(a)(4)) shall apply to assistance made available 

16 under the pilot program. 

17 SEC. 5. REPORTS. 

18 Each participating small business development center 

19 shall transmit to the Administrator and the Chief Counsel 

20 for Advocacy of the Administration, as the Administrator 

21 may direct, a quarterly report that includes— 

22 (1) a summary of the information and edu23 cational materials regarding health insurance op24 tions provided by the participating small business 

25 development center under the pilot program; and 


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1 (2) the number of small business concerns as2 sisted under the pilot program. 

3 SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be appro5 priated to carry out this Act— 

6 (1) $5,000,000 for the first fiscal year begin7 ning after the date of enactment of this Act; and 

8 (2) $5,000,000 for each of the 3 fiscal years 

9 following the fiscal year described in paragraph (1). 

10 (b) LIMITATION ON USE OF OTHER FUNDS.—The 

11 Administrator may carry out the pilot program only with 

12 amounts appropriated in advance specifically to carry out 

13 this Act. 

Æ 


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