IIB 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2061 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 29, 2015 

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance 

AN ACT 

To amend section 5000A of the Internal Revenue Code of 

1986 to provide an additional religious exemption from 

the individual health coverage mandate, and for other 

purposes. 

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


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Equitable Access to 

3 Care and Health Act’’ or the ‘‘EACH Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. ADDITIONAL RELIGIOUS EXEMPTION FROM 

5 HEALTH COVERAGE RESPONSIBILITY RE6 QUIREMENT. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 5000A(d)(2)(A) of the In8 ternal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended to read as fol9 lows: 

10 ‘‘(A) RELIGIOUS CONSCIENCE EXEMP11 TIONS.— 

12 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Such term shall 

13 not include any individual for any month if 

14 such individual has in effect an exemption 

15 under section 1311(d)(4)(H) of the Patient 

16 Protection and Affordable Care Act which 

17 certifies that— 

18 ‘‘(I) such individual is a member 

19 of a recognized religious sect or divi20 sion thereof which is described in sec21 tion 1402(g)(1), and is adherent of 

22 established tenets or teachings of such 

23 sect or division as described in such 

24 section; or 

25 ‘‘(II) such individual is a member 

26 of a religious sect or division thereof 


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1 which is not described in section 

2 1402(g)(1), who relies solely on a reli3 gious method of healing, and for 

4 whom the acceptance of medical 

5 health services would be inconsistent 

6 with the religious beliefs of the indi7 vidual. 

8 ‘‘(ii) SPECIAL RULES.— 

9 ‘‘(I) MEDICAL HEALTH SERVICES

10 DEFINED.—For purposes of this sub11 paragraph, the term ‘medical health 

12 services’ does not include routine den13 tal, vision and hearing services, mid14 wifery services, vaccinations, nec15 essary medical services provided to 

16 children, services required by law or 

17 by a third party, and such other serv18 ices as the Secretary of Health and 

19 Human Services may provide in im20 plementing section 1311(d)(4)(H) of 

21 the Patient Protection and Affordable 

22 Care Act. 

23 ‘‘(II) ATTESTATION REQUIRED.— 

24 Clause (i)(II) shall apply to an indi25 vidual for months in a taxable year 


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1 only if the information provided by 

2 the individual under section 

3 1411(b)(5)(A) of such Act includes an 

4 attestation that the individual has not 

5 received medical health services dur6 ing the preceding taxable year.’’. 

7 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 

8 subsection (a) shall apply to taxable years beginning after 

9 December 31, 2013. 

10 (c) CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in the amendment 

11 made by subsection (a) shall preempt any State law re12 quiring the provision of medical treatment for children, 

13 especially those who are seriously ill. 

Passed the House of Representatives September 28, 

2015. 

Attest: KAREN L. HAAS, 

Clerk. 


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