II 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3548 

To provide for the extension of premium assistance for COBRA benefits. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 29, 2010 

Mr. CASEY (for himself, Mr. BROWN of Ohio, Mr. KERRY, Mr. LEVIN, Mr. 

WHITEHOUSE, Ms. STABENOW, Mr. LEAHY, Mr. DODD, Mr. FRANKEN, 

Mr. BURRIS, and Mr. AKAKA) introduced the following bill; which was 

read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance 

A BILL 

To provide for the extension of premium assistance for 

COBRA benefits. 

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 ‘‘Extend COBRA Pre5 mium Assistance Program Act of 2010’’. 

6 SEC. 2. EXTENSION AND IMPROVEMENT OF PREMIUM AS7 SISTANCE FOR COBRA BENEFITS. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.— 

9 (1) EXTENSION OF ELIGIBILITY PERIOD.—Sub10 section (a)(3)(A) of section 3001 of division B of the 


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•S 3548 IS

1 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 

2 (Public Law 111–5), as amended by section 3(a) of 

3 the Continuing Extension Act of 2010 (Public Law 

4 111–157), is amended by striking ‘‘May 31, 2010’’ 

5 and inserting ‘‘November 30, 2010’’. 

6 (2) RULES RELATING TO 2010 EXTENSION.— 

7 Subsection (a) of section 3001 of division B of the 

8 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 

9 (Public Law 111–5), as amended by section 3(b) of 

10 the Continuing Extension Act of 2010 (Public Law 

11 111–157), is amended by adding at the end the fol12 lowing: 

13 ‘‘(19) ADDITIONAL RULES RELATED TO 2010

14 EXTENSION.—In the case of an individual who, with 

15 regard to coverage described in paragraph (10)(B), 

16 experiences a qualifying event related to a termi17 nation of employment on or after June 1, 2010, and 

18 prior to the date of the enactment of this para19 graph— 

20 ‘‘(A) paragraph (2)(A)(ii)(I) shall be ap21 plied by substituting ‘6 months’ for ‘15 

22 months’; and 

23 ‘‘(B) rules similar to those in paragraphs 

24 (4)(A) and (7)(C) shall apply with respect to all 


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1 continuation coverage, including State continu2 ation coverage programs.’’. 

3 (3) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made 

4 by this subsection shall take effect as if included in 

5 the provisions of section 3001 of division B of the 

6 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. 

7 (b) REQUIRED MINIMUM 10-YEAR TERM, ETC., FOR

8 GRANTOR RETAINED ANNUITY TRUSTS.— 

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subsection (b) of section 

10 2702 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is 

11 amended— 

12 (A) by redesignating paragraphs (1), (2) 

13 and (3) as subparagraphs (A), (B), and (C), re14 spectively, and by moving such subparagraphs 

15 (as so redesignated) 2 ems to the right; 

16 (B) by striking ‘‘For purposes of’’ and in17 serting the following: 

18 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of’’; 

19 (C) by striking ‘‘paragraph (1) or (2)’’ in 

20 paragraph (1)(C) (as so redesignated) and in21 serting ‘‘subparagraph (A) or (B)’’; and 

22 (D) by adding at the end the following new 

23 paragraph: 

24 ‘‘(2) ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS WITH RE25 SPECT TO GRANTOR RETAINED ANNUITIES.—For 


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1 purposes of subsection (a), in the case of an interest 

2 described in paragraph (1)(A) (determined without 

3 regard to this paragraph) which is retained by the 

4 transferor, such interest shall be treated as de5 scribed in such paragraph only if— 

6 ‘‘(A) the right to receive the fixed amounts 

7 referred to in such paragraph is for a term of 

8 not less than 10 years, 

9 ‘‘(B) such fixed amounts, when determined 

10 on an annual basis, do not decrease relative to 

11 any prior year during the first 10 years of the 

12 term referred to in subparagraph (A), and 

13 ‘‘(C) the remainder interest has a value 

14 greater than zero determined as of the time of 

15 the transfer.’’. 

16 (2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made 

17 by this subsection shall apply to transfers made 

18 after December 31, 2010. 

Æ 


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