I 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2047 

To remove the 18 or 36 month limitation on the period of COBRA 

continuation coverage. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 26, 2007 

Mr. DENT (for himself, Mr. KIRK, Mr. GERLACH, Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN, Mr. 

MARCHANT, Mr. MCCAUL of Texas, Mr. COLE of Oklahoma, Mr. MARIO

DIAZ-BALART of Florida, Mr. PORTER, Mr. SHAYS, Mr. ROSKAM, Mr. 

KING of Iowa, Mr. SESSIONS, Mr. REICHERT, Mrs. BIGGERT, and Mr. 

PRICE of Georgia) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Education and Labor, and in addition to the Committees 

on Energy and Commerce, Ways and Means, and Oversight and Government Reform, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, 

in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To remove the 18 or 36 month limitation on the period 

of COBRA continuation 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 ‘‘Health Insurance for 

5 Life Act of 2007’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. REMOVAL OF 18 OR 36 MONTH LIMITATION ON 

2 COBRA CONTINUATION COVERAGE. 

3 (a) UNDER ERISA.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subparagraph (A) of section 

5 602(2) of the Employee Retirement Income Security 

6 Act of 1974 (29 U.S.C. 1162(2)) is amended to read 

7 as follows: 

8 ‘‘(A) NO SPECIFIED MAXIMUM REQUIRED

9 PERIOD.—Except as otherwise provided, there 

10 is no specified deadline for the continuation 

11 coverage provided under this part.’’. 

12 (2) INCREASED PREMIUM PERMITTED FOR AD13 DITIONAL COVERAGE.—The last sentence of section 

14 602(3) of such Act is amended to read as follows: 

15 ‘‘In the case of an individual who was described in 

16 the last sentence of paragraph (2)(A), as in effect 

17 before the amendment made by section 2(a)(1) of 

18 the Health Insurance For Life Act of 2007, for any 

19 month after the 18th month of continuation cov20 erage described in clause (i) or (ii) of such para21 graph and in the case of an individual whose con22 tinuation coverage is only required under this part 

23 due to such amendment, any reference in subpara24 graph (A) of this paragraph to ‘102 percent’ is 

25 deemed a reference to such percentage as the Sec26 retary of Health and Human Services determines 


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1 (from time to time and after consultation with the 

2 Secretary of Labor and the Secretary of the Treas3 ury) that if were applied during the period of the 

4 first 18 months of continuation coverage under this 

5 part would have resulted in a premium equal to the 

6 average monthly actuarial cost of such continuation 

7 coverage.’’. 

8 (b) UNDER IRC.— 

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—Clause (i) of section 

10 4980B(f)(2)(B) of the Internal Revenue Code of 

11 1986 (relating to maximum required period of con12 tinuation coverage) is amended to read as follows: 

13 ‘‘(i) NO SPECIFIED MAXIMUM RE14 QUIRED PERIOD.—Except as otherwise 

15 provided, there is no specified deadline for 

16 the continuation coverage provided under 

17 this section.’’. 

18 (2) INCREASED PREMIUM PERMITTED FOR AD19 DITIONAL COVERAGE.—The last sentence of section 

20 4980B(f)(2)(C) of such Code is amended to read as 

21 follows: ‘‘In the case of an individual who was de22 scribed in the last sentence of subparagraph (B)(i), 

23 as in effect before the amendment made by section 

24 2(b)(1) of the Health Insurance For Life Act of 

25 2007, for any month after the 18th month of conVerDate Aug 31 2005 02:38 Apr 27, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2047.IH H2047

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1 tinuation coverage described in subclause (I) or (II) 

2 of such subparagraph and in the case of an indi3 vidual whose continuation coverage is only required 

4 under this section due to such amendment, any ref5 erence in clause (i) of this subparagraph to ‘102 

6 percent’ is deemed a reference to such percentage as 

7 the Secretary of Health and Human Services deter8 mines from time to time under the last sentence of 

9 section 602(e) of the Employee Retirement Income 

10 Security Act of 1974.’’. 

11 (c) UNDER PHSA.— 

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subparagraph (A) of section 

13 2202(2) of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 

14 300bb–2(2)) is amended to read as follows: 

15 ‘‘(A) NO SPECIFIED MAXIMUM REQUIRED

16 PERIOD.—Except as otherwise provided, there 

17 is no specified deadline for the continuation 

18 coverage provided under this part.’’. 

19 (2) INCREASED PREMIUM PERMITTED FOR AD20 DITIONAL COVERAGE.—The last sentence of section 

21 2202(3) of such Act is amended to read as follows: 

22 ‘‘In the case of an individual who was described in 

23 the last sentence of paragraph (2)(A), as in effect 

24 before the amendment made by section 2(c)(1) of 

25 the Health Insurance For Life Act of 2007, for any 


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1 month after the 18th month of continuation cov2 erage described in clause (i) or (ii) of such para3 graph and in the case of an individual whose con4 tinuation coverage is only required under this part 

5 due to such amendment, any reference in subpara6 graph (A) of this paragraph to ‘102 percent’ is 

7 deemed a reference to such percentage as the Sec8 retary of Health and Human Services determines 

9 from time to time under the last sentence of section 

10 602(e) of the Employee Retirement Income Security 

11 Act of 1974.’’. 

12 (d) FEHBP.— 

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subsection (e) of section 

14 8905a of title 5, United States Code, is amended to 

15 read as follows: 

16 ‘‘(e) Continuation coverage under this section shall 

17 not extend beyond the period of continuation required 

18 under section 602(2) of the Employee Retirement Income 

19 Security Act of 1974 for a group health plan covered 

20 under such section.’’. 

21 (2) INCREASED PREMIUM PERMITTED FOR AD22 DITIONAL COVERAGE.—Section 8905a(d) of such 

23 title is amended— 

24 (A) in paragraph (1)(A), by striking ‘‘and 

25 (5)’’ and inserting ‘‘, (5), and (6)’’; 


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1 (B) in paragraph (4)(A), in the matter be2 fore clause (i), by inserting ‘‘for periods of con3 tinuation coverage not resulting from the 

4 amendment made by section 2(d)(1) of the 

5 Health Insurance For Life Act of 2007’’ after 

6 ‘‘National Nuclear Security Administration’’; 

7 (C) in paragraph (5)(A), in the matter be8 fore clause (i), by inserting ‘‘for periods of con9 tinuation coverage not resulting from the 

10 amendment made by section 2(d)(1) of the 

11 Health Insurance For Life Act of 2007’’ after 

12 ‘‘Atomic Energy Defense Act’’; and 

13 (D) by adding at the end the following new 

14 paragraph: 

15 ‘‘(6) In the case of any period of continuation cov16 erage under this section resulting from the amendment 

17 made by section 2(d)(1) of the Health Insurance For Life 

18 Act of 2007, the amount required to be paid under this 

19 subsection shall be equal to a percentage (equal to such 

20 percentage as the Secretary of Health and Human Serv21 ices determines from time to time under the last sentence 

22 of section 602(e) of the Employee Retirement Income Se23 curity Act of 1974) applied to the amount described in 

24 paragraph (1)(A)(i).’’. 

25 (e) EFFECTIVE DATE.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), 

2 the amendments made by subsections (a) through 

3 (c) shall apply with respect to group health plans, 

4 and health insurance coverage offered in connection 

5 with group health plans, for plan years beginning 

6 after the date of the enactment of this Act and the 

7 amendments made by subsection (d) shall apply to 

8 contract years beginning after the date of the enact9 ment of this Act. 

10 (2) TREATMENT OF COLLECTIVE BARGAINING

11 AGREEMENTS.—In the case of a group health plan 

12 maintained pursuant to 1 or more collective bar13 gaining agreements between employee representa14 tives and 1 or more employers ratified before the 

15 date of enactment of this Act, the amendments made 

16 by subsections (a) through (c) shall not apply to 

17 plan years beginning before the later of— 

18 (A) the date on which the last collective 

19 bargaining agreements relating to the plan ter20 minates (determined without regard to any ex21 tension thereof agreed to after the date of en22 actment of this Act); or 

23 (B) 2 years after the date of the enact24 ment of this Act. 


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1 For purposes of subparagraph (A), any plan amend2 ment made pursuant to a collective bargaining 

3 agreement relating to the plan which amends the 

4 plan solely to conform to any requirement added by 

5 this section shall not be treated as a termination of 

6 such collective bargaining agreement. 

Æ 


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