II 

109TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3813 

To permit individuals who are employees of a grantee that is receiving 

funds under section 330 of the Public Health Service Act to enroll 

in health insurance coverage provided under the Federal Employees 

Health Benefits Program. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

AUGUST 3, 2006 

Mr. SMITH (for himself, Mr. BINGAMAN, and Ms. MURKOWSKI) introduced the 

following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 

Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

A BILL 

To permit individuals who are employees of a grantee that 

is receiving funds under section 330 of the Public Health 

Service Act to enroll in health insurance coverage provided under the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program. 

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 ‘‘Community Health 

5 Center Employee Health Coverage Act of 2006’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress makes the following findings: 


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1 (1) Federally Qualified Health Centers (re2 ferred to in this section as ‘‘FQHCs’’) are required 

3 under section 330 of the Public Health Service Act 

4 (42 U.S.C. 254b) to be located in, and serve, a com5 munity that is designated as ‘‘medically under6 served’’. 

7 (2) FQHCs are required under such section 

8 330 to make its services available to all residents of 

9 the community, without regard to ability to pay, and 

10 to make those services affordable by discounting 

11 charges for otherwise uncovered care to low-income 

12 families in accordance with family income. 

13 (3) FQHCs are required under such section 

14 330 to provide comprehensive primary health care 

15 services, including preventive care, care for illness or 

16 injury, services which improve the accessibility of 

17 care, and the effectiveness of care. 

18 (4) FQHCs are required under such section 

19 330 to be governed by a board of directors, a major20 ity of whose members are active, registered patients 

21 of the health center, thus ensuring that the center 

22 is responsive to the health care needs of the commu23 nity it serves. 

24 (5) FQHCs delivered comprehensive primary 

25 and preventive care to more than 15,000,000 people 


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1 in 2004, more than 6,000,000 of whom had no 

2 health insurance coverage. 

3 (6) FQHCs employ nearly 100,000 people 

4 across the United States. 

5 (7) FQHCs are being challenged by increasing 

6 financial pressures that jeopardize their ability to 

7 provide health services to medically underserved pop8 ulations, including the elderly, the uninsured, and 

9 lower-income individuals. 

10 (8) Health insurance costs in the small em11 ployer market have risen more than 30 percent in 

12 the past 2 years, forcing many FQHCs to use addi13 tional Federal funding to continue to provide health 

14 insurance coverage for their employees. 

15 (9) The Federal Government negotiates pre16 miums with health insurance companies for millions 

17 of Federal employees, thereby ensuring the best pos18 sible rates under the Federal Employee Health Ben19 efit Program (referred to in this section as 

20 ‘‘FEHBP’’). 

21 (10) Last year FEHBP premiums increased 

22 7.5 percent, far less than that of even large employ23 ers. 

24 (11) FQHCs receive Federal grants from the 

25 Health Resource and Services Administration that 


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1 help cover the cost of providing high quality, afford2 able health care for everyone in their communities, 

3 including the uninsured. 

4 (12) FQHCs use a portion of their Federal 

5 grant to cover the cost of health insurance for their 

6 employees. 

7 (13) As health insurance premiums rise, 

8 FQHCs may be forced to reduce health insurance 

9 coverage for their own employees, or reduce the 

10 availability of care in their communities. 

11 (14) Last year, almost 1,400,000 Americans 

12 joined the ranks of the uninsured—bringing our Na13 tion’s total to more than 45,000,000 people without 

14 health insurance, while another 30,000,000 or more 

15 are underinsured. 

16 (15) The uninsured are in significantly worse 

17 health than those with health insurance, receive 

18 fewer preventive services, are less likely to receive 

19 regular care for chronic diseases, and are more likely 

20 to be hospitalized for a condition that could have 

21 been treated more effectively with timely access to 

22 ambulatory care. 

23 (16) Adding FQHC employees to the list of 

24 those covered under the FEHBP would help control 

25 rising health insurance costs, reduce the cost of proVerDate Aug 31 2005 05:16 Aug 05, 2006 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3813.IS S3813

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1 viding health insurance to their employees, and en2 able centers to use scarce funds to continue pro3 viding care in their communities. 

4 SEC. 3. ADDITION OF HEALTH CENTER EMPLOYEES TO 

5 FEHBP. 

6 (a) DEFINITIONS.—Section 8901(l) of title 5, United 

7 States Code, is amended— 

8 (1) in subparagraph (H), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 

9 the end; 

10 (2) in subparagraph (I), by striking the period 

11 and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

12 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

13 ‘‘(J) an individual who is an employee of 

14 a federally qualified health center (as defined in 

15 section 1905(l)(2)(B) of the Social Security Act 

16 (42 U.S.C. 1396d(l)(2)(B))) that has elected to 

17 offer coverage under this chapter or who is an 

18 employee of a grantee that is receiving funds 

19 under section 330(l) of the Public Health Serv20 ice Act (42 U.S.C. 254b(l)) that has elected to 

21 offer coverage under this chapter.’’. 

22 (b) EMPLOYEES HEALTH BENEFITS FUND.—Section 

23 8909 of title 5, United States Code, is amended by adding 

24 at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘(h) An individual who is an employee of a federally 

2 qualified health center (as defined in section 1905(l)(2)(B) 

3 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1396d(l)(2)(B))) 

4 who has elected coverage under this chapter or who is an 

5 employee of a grantee that is receiving funds under section 

6 330(l) of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 

7 254b(l)) who has elected coverage under this chapter shall 

8 be required to pay currently into the Employees Health 

9 Benefits Fund, under arrangements satisfactory to the Of10 fice, an amount equal to the sum of— 

11 ‘‘(1) the employee and agency contributions 

12 which would be required in the case of an employee 

13 enrolled in the same health benefits plan and level 

14 of benefits; and 

15 ‘‘(2) an amount, determined under regulations 

16 prescribed by the Office, necessary for administra17 tive expenses, but not to exceed 2 percent of the 

18 total amount under clause (i).’’. 

Æ 


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