II 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2494 

To provide standards for short-term limited duration health insurance policies. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 5, 2018 

Ms. BALDWIN (for herself, Mrs. GILLIBRAND, Mr. CARDIN, Mr. MURPHY, Mr. 

VAN HOLLEN, Ms. SMITH, Mr. KAINE, Mr. WYDEN, Ms. WARREN, Ms. 

HARRIS, Mr. SANDERS, Ms. HASSAN, Mrs. MURRAY, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, 

Mrs. FEINSTEIN, Ms. STABENOW, and Mr. BROWN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 

Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To provide standards for short-term limited duration health 

insurance policies. 

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 ‘‘Fair Care Act’’. 

5 SEC. 2. SHORT-TERM LIMITED DURATION HEALTH INSUR6 ANCE POLICIES. 

7 (a) PROHIBITION ON PROPOSED RULE.—Notwith8 standing any other provision of law, the Secretary of 

9 Health and Human Services, the Secretary of the TreasVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:05 Mar 08, 2018 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2494.IS S2494

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1 ury, and the Secretary of Labor may not take any action 

2 to implement, enforce, or otherwise give effect to the pro3 posed rule relating to the definition of short-term limited4 duration insurance (83 Fed. Reg. 7437–7447, February 

5 21, 2018), insofar as such proposed rule relates to a re6 vised definition of the term ‘‘short-term limited duration 

7 insurance’’ and the Secretaries shall implement, enforce, 

8 and otherwise give effect to the definition of such term 

9 as applied by the Secretaries under the regulations in ef10 fect on the date of enactment of this Act (81 Fed. Reg. 

11 75316), and such regulations shall continue in effect with 

12 respect to policies until the effective date described in sub13 section (b)(2). 

14 (b) STANDARDS.— 

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 2791(b) of the Pub16 lic Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 300gg–91) is 

17 amended by adding at the end the following: 

18 ‘‘(6) SHORT-TERM LIMITED DURATION INSUR19 ANCE.—The term ‘short-term limited duration insur20 ance’ means health insurance coverage provided pur21 suant to a contract with a health insurance issuer 

22 that— 

23 ‘‘(A) has a specified, limited duration not 

24 to exceed 93 days after the original effective 

25 date of the contract, except that the health plan 


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1 may permit coverage to continue until the end 

2 of the period of hospitalization for a condition 

3 for which the covered person was hospitalized 

4 on the day that coverage would otherwise have 

5 ended; 

6 ‘‘(B) is non-renewable and issued only to 

7 individuals who have not been covered under a 

8 short-term limited duration insurance policy 

9 from any health insurance issuer within the 

10 prior 12 months; 

11 ‘‘(C) displays prominently in marketing 

12 materials, the contract, and in any application 

13 materials provided in connection with enroll14 ment in such insurance a notice to consumers 

15 that includes such information which the State 

16 insurance commissioner deems sufficient to in17 form the individual that coverage and benefits 

18 are limited; 

19 ‘‘(D) covers essential health benefits as set 

20 forth in section 1302 of the Patient Protection 

21 and Affordable Care Act; 

22 ‘‘(E) meets the following requirements for 

23 individual health insurance coverage as set 

24 forth in this title— 


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1 ‘‘(i) section 2701 (relating to fair 

2 health insurance premiums); 

3 ‘‘(ii) section 2702 (relating to guaran4 teed availability of coverage), except as 

5 provided in paragraph (1) consistent with 

6 the limitations of subsection (c); 

7 ‘‘(iii) section 2704 (relating to the 

8 prohibition of pre-existing condition exclu9 sions or other discrimination based on 

10 health status); 

11 ‘‘(iv) section 2705 (relating to the 

12 prohibition of discrimination against indi13 vidual participants and beneficiaries based 

14 on health status); 

15 ‘‘(v) section 2706 (relating to non16 discrimination in health care); 

17 ‘‘(vi) section 2707 (relating to com18 prehensive health insurance coverage); 

19 ‘‘(vii) section 2711 (prohibiting life20 time and annual limits); 

21 ‘‘(viii) section 2712 (prohibiting re22 scissions); 

23 ‘‘(ix) section 2713 (coverage of pre24 ventive health services); 


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1 ‘‘(x) section 2714 (relating to cov2 erage of dependents); and 

3 ‘‘(xi) section 2719 (relating to ap4 peals); and 

5 ‘‘(F) upon the issuance of a health insur6 ance plan that an issuer asserts to be short7 term limited duration insurance, the issuer of 

8 such plan shall provide documentation to the 

9 Secretary and the State insurance commis10 sioner, in a form determined by the Secretary, 

11 regarding the individuals covered by the plan 

12 and the duration of the plan which shall be re13 viewed by the entity responsible for enforcement 

14 under section 2722, together with documenta15 tion submitted by other issuers, to determine 

16 whether the plan satisfies the requirement 

17 under subparagraph (B) and, if not, such entity 

18 shall take appropriate enforcement action.’’. 

19 (2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made 

20 by paragraph (1) shall apply to plan years beginning 

21 on or after January 1, 2019. 

Æ 


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