II 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 400 

To amend the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 and the 

Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to ensure that dependent students who 

take a medically necessary leave of absence do not lose health insurance 

coverage, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 25, 2007 

Mr. SUNUNU (for himself, Mr. GREGG, and Mrs. CLINTON) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 

Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To amend the Employee Retirement Income Security Act 

of 1974 and the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to 

ensure that dependent students who take a medically 

necessary leave of absence do not lose health insurance 

coverage, 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, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Michelle’s Law’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. COVERAGE OF DEPENDENT STUDENTS ON MEDI2 CALLY NECESSARY LEAVE OF ABSENCE. 

3 (a) AMENDMENTS OF ERISA.—Subpart A of part 7 

4 of title I of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act 

5 of 1974 (29 U.S.C. 1181 et seq.) is amended by adding 

6 at the end the following: 

7 ‘‘SEC. 704. COVERAGE OF DEPENDENT STUDENTS ON MEDI8 CALLY NECESSARY LEAVE OF ABSENCE. 

9 ‘‘(a) MEDICALLY NECESSARY LEAVE OF ABSENCE.— 

10 In this section, the term ‘medically necessary leave of ab11 sence’ means a leave of absence from a postsecondary edu12 cational institution (including an institution of higher edu13 cation as defined in section 102 of the Higher Education 

14 Act of 1965) that— 

15 ‘‘(1) is due to a severe illness or injury, as cer16 tified by the attending physician of the dependent 

17 child involved; and 

18 ‘‘(2) causes the dependent child involved to lose 

19 full-time student status. 

20 ‘‘(b) REQUIREMENT TO CONTINUE COVERAGE.— 

21 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In the case of a dependent 

22 child described under paragraph (2), a group health 

23 plan (or health insurance coverage offered in connec24 tion with such a plan) shall not terminate coverage 

25 of such child due to a medically necessary leave of 

26 absence before the date that is the earlier of— 


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1 ‘‘(A) the date that is 1 year after the first 

2 day of the medically necessary leave of absence; 

3 or 

4 ‘‘(B) the date on which such coverage 

5 would otherwise terminate under the terms of 

6 the plan. 

7 ‘‘(2) CHILD DESCRIBED.—A dependent child 

8 described in this paragraph is a child who— 

9 ‘‘(A) is a dependent of a participant or 

10 beneficiary of the plan or coverage; 

11 ‘‘(B) is 18 years of age or older; 

12 ‘‘(C) was enrolled in the plan or coverage 

13 as of the first day of the medically necessary 

14 leave of absence involved; and 

15 ‘‘(D) was enrolled as a full-time student at 

16 a postsecondary educational institution (as de17 scribed in subsection (a)) until the first day of 

18 the medically necessary leave of absence in19 volved. 

20 ‘‘(3) CERTIFICATION BY PHYSICIAN.—Para21 graph (1) shall not apply to a group health plan (or 

22 health insurance coverage offered in connection with 

23 such a plan) unless the dependent child submits to 

24 the plan or issuer and the postsecondary educational 

25 institution involved, documentation and certification 


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1 by the child’s attending physician stating that the 

2 leave of absence involved is a medically necessary 

3 leave of absence. 

4 ‘‘(c) NO LOSS OF FULL-TIME STATUS DUE TO

5 BREAK IN SEMESTER.—Any breaks in the school semester 

6 shall not disqualify a dependent child described under sub7 section (b) from coverage under this section. 

8 ‘‘(d) NO ADDITIONAL COVERAGE.—A dependent 

9 child described under subsection (b) shall be entitled to 

10 an extension under this section of only those benefits to 

11 which the child was entitled under the terms of the plan 

12 or coverage as of the first day of the medically necessary 

13 leave of absence involved. 

14 ‘‘(e) COVERAGE UNDER SUCCESSOR PLAN.—If an 

15 employer or health insurance issuer changes group health 

16 plans after the first day of a medically necessary leave of 

17 absence of dependent child described in subsection (b) but 

18 before the date described under subsection (b)(1), and 

19 such new group health plan offers coverage of dependent 

20 children, such new group health plan shall be subject to 

21 this section in the same manner as the group health plan 

22 coverage in effect on the first day of the medically nec23 essary leave of absence of such dependent child. 

24 ‘‘(f) PRESUMPTION.—For purposes of administrative 

25 or judicial proceedings, there shall be a rebuttable preVerDate Aug 31 2005 00:21 Jan 30, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S400.IS S400

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1 sumption that the documentation and certification under 

2 subsection (b)(3) entitles the dependent child involved to 

3 coverage as described under this section.’’. 

4 (b) AMENDMENTS TO THE INTERNAL REVENUE

5 CODE.—Subchapter B of chapter 100 of the Internal Rev6 enue Code of 1986 (26 U.S.C. 9811 et seq.) is amended— 

7 (1) in the table of sections, by inserting after 

8 the item relating to section 9812 the following new 

9 item: 

‘‘Sec. 9813. Coverage of dependent students on medically necessary leave of absence.’’; 

10 and 

11 (2) by inserting after section 9813 the fol12 lowing: 

13 ‘‘SEC. 9813. COVERAGE OF DEPENDENT STUDENTS ON 

14 MEDICALLY NECESSARY LEAVE OF ABSENCE. 

15 ‘‘(a) MEDICALLY NECESSARY LEAVE OF ABSENCE.— 

16 The term ‘medically necessary leave of absence’ means a 

17 leave of absence from a postsecondary educational institu18 tion (including an institution of higher education as de19 fined in section 102 of the Higher Education Act of 1965) 

20 that— 

21 ‘‘(1) is due to a severe illness or injury, as cer22 tified by the attending physician of the dependent 

23 child involved; and 


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1 ‘‘(2) causes the dependent child involved to lose 

2 full-time student status. 

3 ‘‘(b) REQUIREMENT TO CONTINUE COVERAGE.— 

4 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In the case of a dependent 

5 child described under paragraph (2), a group health 

6 plan (or health insurance coverage offered in connec7 tion with such a plan) shall not terminate coverage 

8 of such child due to a medically necessary leave of 

9 absence before the date that is the earlier of— 

10 ‘‘(A) the date that is 1 year after the first 

11 day of the medically necessary leave of absence; 

12 or 

13 ‘‘(B) the date on which such coverage 

14 would otherwise terminate under the terms of 

15 the plan. 

16 ‘‘(2) CHILD DESCRIBED.—A dependent child 

17 described in this paragraph is a child who— 

18 ‘‘(A) is a dependent of a participant or 

19 beneficiary of the plan or coverage; 

20 ‘‘(B) is 18 years of age or older; 

21 ‘‘(C) was enrolled in the plan or coverage 

22 as of the first day of the medically necessary 

23 leave of absence involved; and 

24 ‘‘(D) was enrolled as a full-time student at 

25 a postsecondary educational institution (as deVerDate Aug 31 2005 00:21 Jan 30, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S400.IS S400

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1 scribed in subsection (a)) until the first day of 

2 the medically necessary leave of absence in3 volved. 

4 ‘‘(3) CERTIFICATION BY PHYSICIAN.—Para5 graph (1) shall not apply to a group health plan (or 

6 health insurance coverage offered in connection with 

7 such a plan) unless the dependent child submits to 

8 the plan or issuer and the postsecondary educational 

9 institution involved, documentation and certification 

10 by the child’s attending physician stating that the 

11 leave of absence involved is a medically necessary 

12 leave of absence. 

13 ‘‘(c) NO LOSS OF FULL-TIME STATUS DUE TO

14 BREAK IN SEMESTER.—Any breaks in the school semester 

15 shall not disqualify a dependent child described under sub16 section (b) from coverage under this section. 

17 ‘‘(d) NO ADDITIONAL COVERAGE.—A dependent 

18 child described under subsection (b) shall be entitled to 

19 an extension under this section of only those benefits to 

20 which the child was entitled under the terms of the plan 

21 or coverage as of the first day of the medically necessary 

22 leave of absence involved. 

23 ‘‘(e) COVERAGE UNDER SUCCESSOR PLAN.—If an 

24 employer or health insurance issuer changes group health 

25 plans after the first day of a medically necessary leave of 


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1 absence of dependent child described in subsection (b) but 

2 before the date described under subsection (b)(1), and 

3 such new group health plan offers coverage of dependent 

4 children, such new group health plan shall be subject to 

5 this section in the same manner as the group health plan 

6 coverage in effect on the first day of the medically nec7 essary leave of absence of such dependent child. 

8 ‘‘(f) PRESUMPTION.—For purposes of administrative 

9 or judicial proceedings, there shall be a rebuttable pre10 sumption that the documentation and certification under 

11 subsection (b)(3) entitles the dependent child involved to 

12 coverage as described under this section.’’. 

Æ 


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