I

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 3007

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, the Employee Retirement

Income Security Act of 1974, and the Public Health Service Act to

extend for 3 years the period of COBRA continuation coverage.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

AUGUST 6, 1993

Mr. STARK (for himself and Ms. PELOSI) introduced the following bill; which

was referred jointly to the Committees on Ways and Means, Energy and

Commerce, and Education and Labor

A BILL

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, the Employee

Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, and the Public

Health Service Act to extend for 3 years 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 ‘‘COBRA Extension Act

5 of 1993’’.
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1 SEC. 2. INTERNAL REVENUE CODE AMENDMENTS.

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

3 of 1986 (relating to period of continuation coverage) is

4 amended—

5 (1) in clause (i), by inserting ‘‘Subject to clause

6 (vi)—’’ after ‘‘MAXIMUM REQUIRED PERIOD.—’’,

7 and

8 (2) by adding at the end the following new

9 clause:

10 ‘‘(vi) 36-MONTH EXTENSION.—

11 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—With respect

12 to an individual whose period of cov13 erage has not ended before the effec14 tive date specified in section 5(a) of

15 the COBRA Extension Act of 1993,

16 the period specified in clause (i) shall

17 be extended by 36 months.

18 ‘‘(II) EXCEPTION.—Subclause (I)

19 shall not apply to an individual de20 scribed in the last sentence of clause

21 (i).’’.

22 SEC. 3. ERISA AMENDMENTS.

23 Section 602(2) of Employee Retirement Income Se24 curity Act of 1974 (29 U.S.C. 1162(2)) is amended—
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1 (1) in subparagraph (A), by inserting ‘‘Subject

2 to subparagraph (F)—’’ after ‘‘MAXIMUM REQUIRED

3 PERIOD.—’’, and

4 (2) by adding at the end the following new sub5 paragraph:

6 ‘‘(F) 36-MONTH EXTENSION.—

7 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—With respect to an

8 individual whose period of coverage has not

9 ended before the effective date specified in

10 section 5(a) of the COBRA Extension Act

11 of 1993, the period specified in subpara12 graph (A) shall be extended by 36 months.

13 ‘‘(ii) EXCEPTION.—Clause (i) shall

14 not apply to an individual described in the

15 last sentence of subparagraph (A).’’.

16 SEC. 4. PHSA AMENDMENTS.

17 Section 2202(2) of Public Health Service Act (42

18 U.S.C. 300bb–2(2)) is amended—

19 (1) in subparagraph (A), by inserting ‘‘Subject

20 to subparagraph (F)—’’ after ‘‘MAXIMUM REQUIRED

21 PERIOD.—’’, and

22 (2) by adding at the end the following new sub23 paragraph:

24 ‘‘(F) 36-MONTH EXTENSION.—
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1 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—With respect to an

2 individual whose period of coverage has not

3 ended before the effective date specified in

4 section 5(a) of the COBRA Extension Act

5 of 1993, the period specified in subpara6 graph (A) shall be extended by 36 months.

7 ‘‘(ii) EXCEPTION.—Clause (i) shall

8 not apply to an individual described in the

9 last sentence of subparagraph (A).’’.

10 SEC. 5. EFFECTIVE DATE.

11 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subsection (b), the ef12 fective date (specified in this section) is the date of the

13 enactment of this Act.

14 (b) PLAN YEARS.—The amendments made by this

15 Act shall apply to plan years beginning on or after the

16 date of the enactment of this Act, regardless of whether

17 the qualifying event occurred before, on, or after such

18 date.

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