II 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2315 

To require the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish a 

program to provide health care coverage to low-income adults in States 

that have not expanded Medicaid. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 12, 2021 

Mr. WARNOCK (for himself, Ms. BALDWIN, and Mr. OSSOFF) introduced the 

following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 

Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To require the Secretary of Health and Human Services 

to establish a program to provide health care coverage 

to low-income adults in States that have not expanded 

Medicaid. 

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 ‘‘Medicaid Saves Lives 

5 Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. MEDICAID FALLBACK COVERAGE PROGRAM FOR 

2 LOW-INCOME ADULTS IN NON-EXPANSION 

3 STATES. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—As soon as possible after the date 

5 of enactment of this Act the Secretary of Health and 

6 Human Services (in this section referred to as the ‘‘Sec7 retary’’) shall— 

8 (1) directly or by contract, establish a program 

9 that offers eligible individuals the opportunity to en10 roll in health benefits coverage that meets the re11 quirements described in subsection (c) and any re12 quirements applicable to such coverage pursuant to 

13 subsection (d); and 

14 (2) ensure that such program is administered 

15 consistent with the requirements of section 

16 431.10(c)(2) of title 42, Code of Federal Regula17 tions. 

18 (b) DEFINITION OF ELIGIBLE INDIVIDUAL.—In this 

19 section, the term ‘‘eligible individual’’ means an individual 

20 who— 

21 (1) is described in section 

22 1902(a)(10)(A)(i)(VIII) of the Social Security Act 

23 (42 U.S.C. 1396a(a)(10)(A)(i)(VIII)); 

24 (2) resides in a State that— 

25 (A) does not expend amounts for medical 

26 assistance under title XIX of the Social SecuVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:41 Jul 20, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2315.IS S2315

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1 rity Act (42 U.S.C. 1396 et seq.) for all individ2 uals described in such section; and 

3 (B) did not expend amounts for medical 

4 assistance under such title for all such individ5 uals as of the date of enactment of this Act; 

6 and 

7 (3) would not be eligible for medical assistance 

8 under such State’s plan for medical assistance under 

9 title XIX of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1396 

10 et seq.), or a waiver of such plan, as such plan or 

11 waiver was in effect on such date. 

12 (c) HEALTH BENEFITS COVERAGE REQUIRE13 MENTS.—The requirements described in this subsection 

14 with respect to health benefits coverage are the following: 

15 (1) ESSENTIAL HEALTH BENEFITS.—At a min16 imum, the coverage meets the minimum standards 

17 required under paragraph (5) of section 1937(b) of 

18 the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1396u–7(b)) for 

19 benchmark coverage described in paragraph (1) of 

20 such section or benchmark equivalent coverage de21 scribed in paragraph (2) of such section. 

22 (2) PREMIUMS AND COST SHARING.—No pre23 miums are imposed for the coverage, and deducti24 bles, cost sharing, or similar charges may only be 

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1 posed on State Medicaid plans under section 1916 of 

2 the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1396o). 

3 (d) APPLICATION OF REQUIREMENTS AND PROVI4 SIONS OF TITLE XIX OF THE SOCIAL SECURITY ACT.— 

5 The Secretary shall specify that— 

6 (1) any requirement applicable to the furnishing 

7 of medical assistance under title XIX of the Social 

8 Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1396 et seq.) by States that 

9 have elected to make medical assistance available to 

10 individuals described in section 

11 1902(a)(10)(A)(i)(VIII) of such title (42 U.S.C. 

12 1396a(a)(10)(A)(i)(VIII)) that does not conflict with 

13 the requirements specified in subsection (c) applies 

14 to the program established under this section; and 

15 (2) other provisions of such title apply to such 

16 program. 

17 (e) NO STATE MANDATE.—Nothing in this section 

18 shall be construed as requiring a State to make expendi19 tures related to the program established under this section 

20 and the Secretary shall not impose any such requirement. 

21 (f) FUNDING.—There are appropriated to the Sec22 retary for each fiscal year beginning with fiscal year 2021 

23 from any funds in the Treasury not otherwise appro24 priated, such sums as are necessary to carry out this sec25 tion. 


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1 SEC. 3. INCREASE AND EXTENSION OF TEMPORARY EN2 HANCED FMAP FOR STATES WHICH BEGIN TO 

3 EXPEND AMOUNTS FOR CERTAIN MANDA4 TORY INDIVIDUALS. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 1905(ii)(1) of the Social 

6 Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1396d(ii)(1)) is amended— 

7 (1) by striking ‘‘8-quarter period’’ and inserting 

8 ‘‘40-quarter period’’; and 

9 (2) by striking ‘‘5 percentage points’’ and in10 serting ‘‘10 percentage points’’. 

11 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

12 this section shall take effect as if included in the enact13 ment of section 9814 of the American Rescue Plan Act 

14 of 2021 (Public Law 117–2). 

Æ 


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