II 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1690 

To establish a 4-year pilot program to provide information and educational 

materials to small business concerns regarding health insurance options, 

including coverage options within the small group market. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 25, 2007 

Ms. SNOWE (for herself, Mr. KERRY, and Mr. BENNETT) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Small 

Business and Entrepreneurship 

A BILL 

To establish a 4-year pilot program to provide information 

and educational materials to small business concerns regarding health insurance options, including coverage options within the small group market. 

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 ‘‘Small Business Health 

5 Insurance Options Act of 2007’’. 


hmoore on PRODPC68 with HMBILLS
2 

•S 1690 IS

1 SEC. 2. HEALTH INSURANCE OPTIONS INFORMATION FOR 

2 SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS. 

3 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section, the following defi4 nitions shall apply: 

5 (1) ADMINISTRATION.—The term ‘‘Administra6 tion’’ means the Small Business Administration. 

7 (2) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis8 trator’’ means the Administrator of the Administra9 tion. 

10 (3) ASSOCIATION.—The term ‘‘association’’ 

11 means an association established under section 

12 21(a)(3)(A) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 

13 648(a)(3)(A)) representing a majority of small busi14 ness development centers. 

15 (4) PARTICIPATING SMALL BUSINESS DEVELOP16 MENT CENTER.—The term ‘‘participating small 

17 business development center’’ means a small busi18 ness development center described in section 21 of 

19 the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 648) that— 

20 (A) is accredited under section 21(k)(2) of 

21 the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 648(k)(2)); 

22 and 

23 (B) receives a grant under the pilot pro24 gram. 

25 (5) PILOT PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘pilot pro26 gram’’ means the small business health insurance inVerDate Aug 31 2005 04:45 Jun 26, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1690.IS S1690

hmoore on PRODPC68 with HMBILLS
3 

•S 1690 IS

1 formation pilot program established under this sec2 tion. 

3 (6) SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN.—The term 

4 ‘‘small business concern’’ has the meaning given 

5 that term in section 3 of the Small Business Act (15 

6 U.S.C. 632). 

7 (7) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means each of 

8 the several States of the United States, the District 

9 of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the 

10 Virgin Islands, American Samoa, and Guam. 

11 (b) SMALL BUSINESS HEALTH INSURANCE INFOR12 MATION PILOT PROGRAM.—The Administrator shall es13 tablish a pilot program to make grants to small business 

14 development centers to provide neutral and objective infor15 mation and educational materials regarding health insur16 ance options, including coverage options within the small 

17 group market, to small business concerns. 

18 (c) APPLICATIONS.— 

19 (1) POSTING OF INFORMATION.—Not later than 

20 90 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the 

21 Administrator shall post on the website of the Ad22 ministration and publish in the Federal Register a 

23 guidance document describing— 

24 (A) the requirements of an application for 

25 a grant under the pilot program; and 


hmoore on PRODPC68 with HMBILLS
4 

•S 1690 IS

1 (B) the types of informational and edu2 cational materials regarding health insurance 

3 options to be created under the pilot program, 

4 including by referencing materials and re5 sources developed by the National Association 

6 of Insurance Commissioners, the Kaiser Family 

7 Foundation, and the Healthcare Leadership 

8 Council. 

9 (2) SUBMISSION.—A small business develop10 ment center desiring a grant under the pilot pro11 gram shall submit an application at such time, in 

12 such manner, and accompanied by such information 

13 as the Administrator may reasonably require. 

14 (d) SELECTION OF PARTICIPATING SMALL BUSINESS

15 DEVELOPMENT CENTERS.— 

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall se17 lect not more than 20 small business development 

18 centers to receive a grant under the pilot program. 

19 (2) SELECTION OF PROGRAMS.—In selecting 

20 small business development centers under paragraph 

21 (1), the Administrator may not select— 

22 (A) more than 2 programs from each of 

23 the groups of States described in paragraph 

24 (3); and 

25 (B) more than 1 program in any State. 


hmoore on PRODPC68 with HMBILLS
5 

•S 1690 IS

1 (3) GROUPINGS.—The groups of States de2 scribed in this paragraph are the following: 

3 (A) GROUP 1.—Group 1 shall consist of 

4 Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Con5 necticut, Vermont, and Rhode Island. 

6 (B) GROUP 2.—Group 2 shall consist of 

7 New York, New Jersey, Puerto Rico, and the 

8 Virgin Islands. 

9 (C) GROUP 3.—Group 3 shall consist of 

10 Pennsylvania, Maryland, West Virginia, Vir11 ginia, the District of Columbia, and Delaware. 

12 (D) GROUP 4.—Group 4 shall consist of 

13 Georgia, Alabama, North Carolina, South Caro14 lina, Mississippi, Florida, Kentucky, and Ten15 nessee. 

16 (E) GROUP 5.—Group 5 shall consist of Il17 linois, Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Wisconsin, and 

18 Minnesota. 

19 (F) GROUP 6.—Group 6 shall consist of 

20 Texas, New Mexico, Arkansas, Oklahoma, and 

21 Louisiana. 

22 (G) GROUP 7.—Group 7 shall consist of 

23 Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska, and Kansas. 


hmoore on PRODPC68 with HMBILLS
6 

•S 1690 IS

1 (H) GROUP 8.—Group 8 shall consist of 

2 Colorado, Wyoming, North Dakota, South Da3 kota, Montana, and Utah. 

4 (I) GROUP 9.—Group 9 shall consist of 

5 California, Guam, American Samoa, Hawaii, 

6 Nevada, and Arizona. 

7 (J) GROUP 10.—Group 10 shall consist of 

8 Washington, Alaska, Idaho, and Oregon. 

9 (4) DEADLINE FOR SELECTION.—The Adminis10 trator shall make selections under this subsection 

11 not later than 6 months after the later of the date 

12 on which the information described in subsection 

13 (c)(1) is posted on the website of the Administration 

14 and the date on which the information described in 

15 subsection (c)(1) is published in the Federal Reg16 ister. 

17 (e) USE OF FUNDS.— 

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—A participating small busi19 ness development center shall use funds provided 

20 under the pilot program to— 

21 (A) create and distribute informational 

22 materials; and 

23 (B) conduct training and educational ac24 tivities. 

25 (2) CONTENT OF MATERIALS.— 


hmoore on PRODPC68 with HMBILLS
7 

•S 1690 IS

1 (A) IN GENERAL.—In creating materials 

2 under the pilot program, a participating small 

3 business development center shall evaluate and 

4 incorporate relevant portions of existing infor5 mational materials regarding health insurance 

6 options, including materials and resources de7 veloped by the National Association of Insur8 ance Commissioners, the Kaiser Family Foun9 dation, and the Healthcare Leadership Council. 

10 (B) HEALTH INSURANCE OPTIONS.—In in11 corporating information regarding health insur12 ance options under subparagraph (A), a partici13 pating small business development center shall 

14 provide neutral and objective information re15 garding health insurance options in the geo16 graphic area served by the participating small 

17 business development center, including tradi18 tional employer sponsored health insurance for 

19 the group insurance market, such as the health 

20 insurance options defined in section 2791 of the 

21 Public Health Services Act (42 U.S.C. 300gg– 

22 91) or section 125 of the Internal Revenue 

23 Code of 1986, and Federal and State health in24 surance programs. 


hmoore on PRODPC68 with HMBILLS
8 

•S 1690 IS

1 (f) GRANT AMOUNTS.—Each participating small 

2 business development center program shall receive a grant 

3 in an amount equal to— 

4 (1) not less than $150,000 per fiscal year; and 

5 (2) not more than $300,000 per fiscal year. 

6 (g) MATCHING REQUIREMENT.—Subparagraphs (A) 

7 and (B) of section 21(a)(4) of the Small Business Act (15 

8 U.S.C. 648(a)(4)) shall apply to assistance made available 

9 under the pilot program. 

10 (h) REPORTS.—Each participating small business de11 velopment center shall transmit to the Committee on 

12 Small Business and Entrepreneurship of the Senate and 

13 the Committee on Small Business of the House of Rep14 resentatives, a quarterly report that includes— 

15 (1) a summary of the information and edu16 cational materials regarding health insurance op17 tions provided by the participating small business 

18 development center under the pilot program; and 

19 (2) the number of small business concerns as20 sisted under the pilot program. 

21 (i) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be 

23 appropriated to carry out this section— 


hmoore on PRODPC68 with HMBILLS
9 

•S 1690 IS

1 (A) $5,000,000 for the first fiscal year be2 ginning after the date of enactment of this Act; 

3 and 

4 (B) $5,000,000 for each of the 3 fiscal 

5 years following the fiscal year described in sub6 paragraph (A). 

7 (2) LIMITATION ON USE OF OTHER FUNDS.— 

8 The Administrator may carry out the pilot program 

9 only with amounts appropriated in advance specifi10 cally to carry out this section. 

Æ 


hmoore on PRODPC68 with HMBILLS