I 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2700 

To amend title I of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to 

provide for a process for waiver of requirements of that title where 

the requirement is asserted to otherwise result in a significant decrease 

in access to coverage or significant increase in premiums or other costs. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 16, 2013 

Mr. ROGERS of Michigan (for himself, Mr. MCKINLEY, Mr. TIBERI, Mr. CASSIDY, Mr. HALL, Mr. HUIZENGA of Michigan, and Mr. WALBERG) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy 

and Commerce, and in addition to the Committees on Ways and Means 

and Education and the Workforce, 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 amend title I of the Patient Protection and Affordable 

Care Act to provide for a process for waiver of requirements of that title where the requirement is asserted 

to otherwise result in a significant decrease in access 

to coverage or significant increase in premiums or other 

costs. 

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


emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with BILLS
2 

•HR 2700 IH

1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Health Care Waiver 

3 Fairness Act of 2013’’. 

4 SEC. 2. PPACA WAIVER PROCESS. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title I of the Patient Protection 

6 and Affordable Care Act (Public Law 111–148) is amend7 ed by adding at the end the following new subtitle: 

8 ‘‘Subtitle G—Waiver Process 

9 ‘‘SEC. 1601. ESTABLISHMENT OF WAIVER PROCESS. 

10 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The applicable authorities (as 

11 defined in subsection (c)) shall collectively establish a 

12 process (in this section referred to as the ‘waiver process’) 

13 under which the administrator of a health plan, an em14 ployer, an individual, or other entity may seek to waive 

15 the application of a requirement under this title with re16 spect to such plan, employer, individual, or entity. Among 

17 the requirements under this title, such process shall apply 

18 to the following: 

19 ‘‘(1) Section 5000A of the Internal Revenue 

20 Code of 1986 (relating to requirement to maintain 

21 minimum essential coverage), as inserted by section 

22 1501(b). 

23 ‘‘(2) Section 6055 of the Internal Revenue Code 

24 of 1986 (relating to reporting of health insurance 

25 coverage), as inserted by section 1502(a). 


emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with BILLS
3 

•HR 2700 IH

1 ‘‘(3) Section 18A of the Fair Labor Standards 

2 Act of 1938 (42 U.S.C. 218a, relating to automatic 

3 enrollment for employees of large employers), as in4 serted by section 1511. 

5 ‘‘(4) Section 18B of the Fair Labor Standards 

6 Act of 1938 (42 U.S.C. 218b, relating to notice to 

7 employees), as inserted by section 1512. 

8 ‘‘(5) Section 4980H of the Internal Revenue 

9 Code of 1986 (relating to shared responsibility for 

10 employers regarding health coverage), as inserted by 

11 section 1513(a). 

12 ‘‘(6) Section 6056 of the Internal Revenue Code 

13 of 1986 (relating to certain employers required to 

14 report on health insurance coverage), as inserted by 

15 section 1514(a). 

16 ‘‘(7) Section 10108 (relating to free choice 

17 vouchers). 

18 ‘‘(8) Regulations regarding the treatment of 

19 group health plans or health insurance coverage as 

20 a grandfathered health plan (as defined in section 

21 1251(e)). 

22 ‘‘(9) Section 2718(b) of the Public Health Serv23 ice Act (relating to medical loss ratios), as inserted 

24 by section 1001. 

25 ‘‘(b) WAIVER PROCESS.— 


emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with BILLS
4 

•HR 2700 IH

1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The applicable authorities 

2 shall establish the waiver process consistent with the 

3 following: 

4 ‘‘(A) NOTICE AND GUIDANCE.—Public no5 tice and guidance shall be provided regarding 

6 the process for submission of waiver requests. 

7 ‘‘(B) STANDARD.—A waiver request with 

8 respect to the application of a requirement to a 

9 plan, employer, individual, or entity shall be ac10 companied by a statement that— 

11 ‘‘(i) identifies the specific requirement 

12 (or requirements) to be waived; and 

13 ‘‘(ii) describes how the imposition of 

14 each specific requirement for which a waiv15 er is requested on the plan, employer, indi16 vidual, or entity would result in a signifi17 cant decrease in access to coverage or a 

18 significant increase in premiums or other 

19 costs for such plan, employer, individual, 

20 or entity. 

21 ‘‘(C) DEEMED APPROVAL.—A waiver re22 quest filed that is accompanied by such a state23 ment shall be deemed to be approved. 

24 ‘‘(D) PUBLICATION OF DATA.—The appli25 cable authorities shall regularly publish data reVerDate Mar 15 2010 23:01 Jul 17, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2700.IH H2700

emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with BILLS
5 

•HR 2700 IH

1 garding the waiver requests received for the dif2 ferent requirements. 

3 ‘‘(2) TREATMENT OF APPROVED WAIVERS.—In 

4 the case of approval under the waiver process of a 

5 waiver request with respect to a requirement of this 

6 title and an entity, notwithstanding any other provi7 sion of law, such requirement shall not apply to such 

8 entity on and after the date of approval of the re9 quest. 

10 ‘‘(3) RELATION TO OTHER EXEMPTIONS AND

11 EXCEPTIONS.—Nothing in this section shall be con12 strued as superceding other provisions of this title 

13 insofar as they provide for exceptions, exemptions, 

14 or other special treatment with respect to require15 ments under this title. 

16 ‘‘(c) APPLICABLE AUTHORITY.—In this section, the 

17 term ‘applicable authority’ means— 

18 ‘‘(1) except as otherwise provided in this sub19 section, the Secretary of Health and Human Serv20 ices; 

21 ‘‘(2) the Secretary of Labor with respect to the 

22 provisions of this title, including amendments made 

23 by this title, that are administered by such Sec24 retary; and 


emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with BILLS
6 

•HR 2700 IH

1 ‘‘(3) the Secretary of the Treasury with respect 

2 to the provisions of this title, including amendments 

3 made by this title, that are administered by such 

4 Secretary, including sections of the Internal Revenue 

5 Code of 1986 specified in subsection (a). 

6 ‘‘(d) REFERENCES TO REQUIREMENTS UNDER THIS

7 TITLE.—In this section, a reference to a requirement 

8 under this title include such a requirement under an 

9 amendment made by this title, including as amended by 

10 title X of this Act or by the provisions of the Health Care 

11 and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 (Public Law 

12 111–152). 

13 ‘‘(e) PUBLIC AWARENESS CAMPAIGN.—Of the 

14 amounts available in the Prevention and Public Health 

15 Fund established under section 4002, notwithstanding any 

16 other provision of law, $50,000,000 shall be available to 

17 and expended by the Secretary of Health and Human 

18 Services to conduct, in coordination with other applicable 

19 authorities, a public awareness campaign of the waiver 

20 process. Amounts made available under this subsection 

21 shall remain available until expended.’’. 

22 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 

23 of such Act is amended by adding at the end of the items 

24 relating to title I the following: 


emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with BILLS
7 

•HR 2700 IH

‘‘Subtitle G—Waiver Process 

‘‘Sec. 1601. Establishment of waiver process.’’. 

Æ 


emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with BILLS