In the Senate of the United States,

November 8, 1997.

Resolved, That the bill from the House of Representatives (H.R. 497) entitled ‘‘An Act to repeal the Federal charter of Group Hospitalization and Medical Services, Inc., and

for other purposes.’’, do pass with the following

AMENDMENTS:

Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert:

1 SECTION 1. CHARTER FOR GROUP HOSPITALIZATION AND

2 MEDICAL SERVICES, INC.

3 The Act entitled ‘‘An Act providing for the incorpora4 tion of certain persons as Group Hospitalization and Medi5 cal Services, Inc.’’, approved August 11, 1939, is amend6 ed—

7 (1) by inserting after section 9 the following new

8 section:

9 ‘‘SEC. 10. The corporation may have 1 class of mem10 bers, consisting of at least 1 member and not more than

11 30 members, as determined appropriate by the board of
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1 trustees. The bylaws for the corporation shall prescribe the

2 designation of such class as well as the rights, privileges

3 and qualifications of such class, which may include, but

4 shall not be limited to—

5 ‘‘(1) the manner of election, appointment or re6 moval of a member of the corporation;

7 ‘‘(2) matters on which a member of the corpora8 tion has the right to vote; and

9 ‘‘(3) meeting, notice, quorum, voting and proxy

10 requirements and procedures.

11 If a member of the corporation is a corporation, such mem12 ber shall be a nonprofit corporation.’’;

13 (2) by redesignating section 10 as section 11;

14 and

15 (3) by adding at the end of section 11 (as so re16 designated) the following: ‘‘The corporation may not

17 be dissolved without approval by Congress.’’.

18 SEC. 2. CONSISTENT COVERAGE FOR INDIVIDUALS EN19 ROLLED IN A HEALTH PLAN ADMINISTERED

20 BY THE FEDERAL BANKING AGENCIES.

21 (a) ENROLLMENT IN CHAPTER 89 PLAN.—For pur22 poses of chapter 89 of title 5, United States Code, any pe23 riod of enrollment shall be deemed to be a period of enroll24 ment in a health benefits plan under chapter 89 of such

25 title, if such enrollment is—
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1 (1) in a health benefits plan administered by the

2 Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation before the ter3 mination of such plan on January 3, 1998; or

4 (2) subject to subsection (c), in a health benefits

5 plan (not under chapter 89 of such title) with respect

6 to which the eligibility of any employees or retired

7 employees of the Board of Governors of the Federal

8 Reserve System terminates on January 3, 1998.

9 (b) ENROLLMENT; CONTINUED COVERAGE.—

10 (1) ENROLLMENT.—Subject to subsection (c),

11 any individual who, on January 3, 1998, is enrolled

12 in a health benefits plan described in paragraph (1)

13 or (2) of subsection (a) may enroll in an approved

14 health benefits plan under chapter 89 of title 5, Unit15 ed States Code, either as an individual or for self and

16 family, if, after taking into account the provisions of

17 subsection (a), such individual—

18 (A) meets the requirements of that chapter

19 89 for eligibility to become so enrolled as an em20 ployee, annuitant, or former spouse (within the

21 meaning of that chapter); or

22 (B) would meet the requirements of that

23 chapter 89 if, to the extent such requirements in24 volve either retirement system under such title 5,

25 such individual satisfies similar requirements or
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1 provisions of the Retirement Plan for Employees

2 of the Federal Reserve System.

3 (2) DETERMINATIONS.—Any determination

4 under paragraph (1)(B) shall be made under guide5 lines established by the Office of Personnel Manage6 ment in consultation with the Board of Governors of

7 the Federal Reserve System.

8 (3) CONTINUED COVERAGE.—Subject to sub9 section (c), any individual who, on January 3, 1998,

10 is entitled to continued coverage under a health bene11 fits plan described in paragraph (1) or (2) of sub12 section (a) shall be deemed to be entitled to continued

13 coverage under section 8905a of title 5, United States

14 Code, but only for the same remaining period as

15 would have been allowable under the health benefits

16 plan in which such individual was enrolled on Janu17 ary 3, 1998, if—

18 (A) the individual had remained enrolled in

19 that plan; and

20 (B) that plan did not terminate, or the eli21 gibility of such individual with respect to that

22 plan did not terminate, as described in sub23 section (a).

24 (4) COMPARABLE TREATMENT.—Subject to sub25 section (c), any individual (other than an individual
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1 under paragraph (3)) who, on January 3, 1998, is

2 covered under a health benefits plan described in

3 paragraph (1) or (2) of subsection (a) as an unmar4 ried dependent child, but who does not then qualify

5 for coverage under chapter 89 of title 5, United States

6 Code, as a family member (within the meaning of

7 that chapter) shall be deemed to be entitled to contin8 ued coverage under section 8905a of that title, to the

9 same extent and in the same manner as if such indi10 vidual had, on January 3, 1998, ceased to meet the

11 requirements for being considered an unmarried de12 pendent child of an enrollee under such chapter.

13 (5) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Coverage under chapter

14 89 of title 5, United States Code, pursuant to an en15 rollment under this section shall become effective on

16 January 4, 1998.

17 (c) ELIGIBILITY FOR FEHBP LIMITED TO INDIVID18 UALS LOSING ELIGIBILITY UNDER FORMER HEALTH

19 PLAN.—Nothing in subsection (a)(2) or any paragraph of

20 subsection (b) (to the extent that paragraph relates to the

21 plan described in subsection (a)(2)) shall be considered to

22 apply with respect to any individual whose eligibility for

23 coverage under the plan does not involuntarily terminate

24 on January 3, 1998.
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1 (d) TRANSFERS TO THE EMPLOYEES HEALTH BENE2 FITS FUND.—The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation

3 and the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System

4 shall transfer to the Employees Health Benefits Fund,

5 under section 8909 of title 5, United States Code, amounts

6 determined by the Director of the Office of Personnel Man7 agement, after consultation with the Federal Deposit Insur8 ance Corporation and the Board of Governors of the Federal

9 Reserve System, to be necessary to reimburse the Fund for

10 the cost of providing benefits under this section not other11 wise paid for by the individuals covered by this section.

12 The amounts so transferred shall be held in the Fund and

13 used by the Office of Personnel Management in addition

14 to amounts available under section 8906(g)(1) of title 5,

15 United States Code.

16 (e) ADMINISTRATION AND REGULATIONS.—The Office

17 of Personnel Management—

18 (1) shall administer the provisions of this section

19 to provide for—

20 (A) a period of notice and open enrollment

21 for individuals affected by this section; and

22 (B) no lapse of health coverage for individ23 uals who enroll in a health benefits plan under

24 chapter 89 of title 5, United States Code, in ac25 cordance with this section; and
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1 (2) may prescribe regulations to implement this

2 section.

Amend the title so as to read: ‘‘An Act to amend the

Federal charter for Group Hospitalization and Medical

Services, Inc., and for other purposes.’’.

Attest:

Secretary.
105TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 497

AMENDMENTS