II 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1714 

To establish a multiagency nationwide campaign to educate small business 

concerns about health insurance options available to children. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 27, 2007 

Mr. KERRY (for himself and Ms. SNOWE) introduced the following bill; which 

was read twice and referred to the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship 

A BILL 

To establish a multiagency nationwide campaign to educate 

small business concerns about health insurance options 

available to children. 

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 Chil5 dren’s Health Education Act of 2007’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds that— 

8 (1) nearly 2,000,000 of the 9,000,000 unin9 sured children in the United States are currently eliVerDate Aug 31 2005 22:50 Jun 29, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1714.IS S1714

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1 gible for the State Children’s Health Insurance Pro2 gram based on their family income, but are not en3 rolled; 

4 (2) nearly 4,000,000 uninsured children appear 

5 to be eligible for Medicaid, but remain uninsured; 

6 (3) the State Children’s Health Insurance Pro7 gram appears to reach only 69 percent of its target 

8 population; 

9 (4) according to a study conducted by the 

10 Urban Institute in February, 2007, among those eli11 gible for the State Children’s Health Insurance Pro12 gram, children whose families are self-employed or 

13 who work for small business concerns are far less 

14 likely to be enrolled in that program, specifically 

15 that 1 out of every 4 eligible children with parents 

16 who work for a small business concern or are self 

17 employed are not enrolled, compared with 1 out of 

18 10 eligible children whose parents work for a large 

19 firm who are not enrolled; and 

20 (5) the Federal Government can improve the 

21 lives of uninsured families eligible for the State Chil22 dren’s Health Insurance Program through increas23 ing awareness of the availability, eligibility, and en24 rollment process for the State Children’s Health In25 surance Program (and other private options for 


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1 health insurance) among owners of small business 

2 concerns. 

3 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

4 In this Act— 

5 (1) the terms ‘‘Administration’’ and ‘‘Adminis6 trator’’ means the Small Business Administration 

7 and the Administrator thereof, respectively; 

8 (2) the term ‘‘certified development company’’ 

9 means a development company participating in the 

10 program under title V of the Small Business Invest11 ment Act of 1958 (15 U.S.C. 695 et seq.); 

12 (3) the term ‘‘Medicaid program’’ means the 

13 program established under title XIX of the Social 

14 Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1396 et seq.); 

15 (4) the term ‘‘Service Corps of Retired Execu16 tives’’ means the Service Corps of Retired Execu17 tives authorized by section 8(b)(1) of the Small 

18 Business Act (15 U.S.C. 637(b)(1)); 

19 (5) the term ‘‘small business concern’’ has the 

20 meaning given that term in section 3 of the Small 

21 Business Act (15 U.S.C. 632); 

22 (6) the term ‘‘small business development cen23 ter’’ means a small business development center de24 scribed in section 21 of the Small Business Act (15 

25 U.S.C. 648); 


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1 (7) the term ‘‘State’’ has the meaning given 

2 that term for purposes of title XXI of the Social Se3 curity Act (42 U.S.C. 1397aa et seq.); 

4 (8) the term ‘‘State Children’s Health Insur5 ance Program’’ means the State Children’s Health 

6 Insurance Program established under title XXI of 

7 the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1397aa et seq.); 

8 (9) the term ‘‘task force’’ means the task force 

9 established under section 4(a); and 

10 (10) the term ‘‘women’s business center’’ means 

11 a women’s business center described in section 29 of 

12 the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 656). 

13 SEC. 4. ESTABLISHMENT OF TASK FORCE. 

14 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established a task 

15 force to conduct a nationwide campaign of education and 

16 outreach for small business concerns regarding the avail17 ability of coverage for children through private insurance 

18 options, the Medicaid program, and the State Children’s 

19 Health Insurance Program. 

20 (b) MEMBERSHIP.—The task force shall consist of 

21 the Administrator, the Secretary of Health and Human 

22 Services, the Secretary of Labor, and the Secretary of the 

23 Treasury. 

24 (c) RESPONSIBILITIES.—The campaign conducted 

25 under this section shall include— 


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1 (1) efforts to educate the owners of small busi2 ness concerns about the value of health coverage for 

3 children; 

4 (2) information regarding options available to 

5 the owners and employees of small business concerns 

6 to make insurance more affordable, including Fed7 eral and State tax deductions and credits for health 

8 care-related expenses and health insurance expenses 

9 and Federal tax exclusion for health insurance op10 tions available under employer-sponsored cafeteria 

11 plans under section 125 of the Internal Revenue 

12 Code of 1986; 

13 (3) efforts to educate the owners of small busi14 ness concerns about assistance available through 

15 public programs; and 

16 (4) efforts to educate the owners and employees 

17 of small business concerns regarding the availability 

18 of the hotline operated as part of the Insure Kids 

19 Now program of the Department of Health and 

20 Human Services. 

21 (d) IMPLEMENTATION.—In carrying out this section, 

22 the task force may— 

23 (1) use any business partner of the Administra24 tion, including— 

25 (A) a small business development center; 


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1 (B) a certified development company; 

2 (C) a women’s business center; and 

3 (D) the Service Corps of Retired Execu4 tives; 

5 (2) enter into— 

6 (A) a memorandum of understanding with 

7 a chamber of commerce; and 

8 (B) a partnership with any appropriate 

9 small business concern or health advocacy 

10 group; and 

11 (3) designate outreach programs at regional of12 fices of the Department of Health and Human Serv13 ices to work with district offices of the Administra14 tion. 

15 (e) WEBSITE.—The Administrator shall ensure that 

16 links to information on the eligibility and enrollment re17 quirements for the Medicaid program and State Children’s 

18 Health Insurance Program of each State are prominently 

19 displayed on the website of the Administration. 

20 (f) REPORT.— 

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 2 years after 

22 the date of enactment of this Act, and every 2 years 

23 thereafter, the Administrator shall submit to the 

24 Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship 

25 of the Senate and the Committee on Small Business 


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1 of the House of Representatives a report on the sta2 tus of the nationwide campaign conducted under 

3 subsection (a). 

4 (2) CONTENTS.—Each report submitted under 

5 paragraph (1) shall include a status update on all 

6 efforts made to educate owners and employees of 

7 small business concerns on options for providing 

8 health insurance for children through public and pri9 vate alternatives. 

Æ 


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