I

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1877

To amend title I of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974

to prohibit group health plans which provide coverage of dependent

children of participants from excluding from coverage dependent children

placed with participants for adoption, irrespective of whether the adoption

has taken effect, and to prohibit restrictions on coverage under such

plans of such children solely on the basis of preexisting conditions at

the time such children would otherwise become eligible for coverage.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

APRIL 28, 1993

Mr. ACKERMAN (for himself, Mr. HYDE, Mrs. SCHROEDER, and Mr. SMITH

of New Jersey) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the

Committee on Education and Labor

A BILL

To amend title I of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 to prohibit group health plans which

provide coverage of dependent children of participants

from excluding from coverage dependent children placed

with participants for adoption, irrespective of whether

the adoption has taken effect, and to prohibit restrictions

on coverage under such plans of such children solely

on the basis of preexisting conditions at the time such

children would otherwise become eligible for coverage.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
2

•HR 1877 IH

1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Health Coverage for

3 Adopted Children Act of 1993’’.

4 SEC. 2. RULES GOVERNING GROUP HEALTH PLAN COV5 ERAGE FOR DEPENDENT CHILDREN IN ADOP6 TION CASES.

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Part 2 of subtitle B of title I of

8 the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 is

9 amended—

10 (1) by redesignating section 211 (29 U.S.C.

11 1061) as section 212; and

12 (2) by inserting after section 210 (29 U.S.C.

13 1060) the following new section:

14 ‘‘GROUP HEALTH PLAN COVERAGE OF DEPENDENT

15 CHILDREN IN CASES OF ADOPTION

16 ‘‘SEC. 211. (a) COVERAGE EFFECTIVE UPON PLACE17 MENT FOR ADOPTION.—A group health plan providing

18 coverage for dependent children of participants shall pro19 vide such coverage for each dependent child placed with

20 a participant for adoption by the participant in accordance

21 with applicable State law, irrespective of whether the

22 adoption has become final.

23 ‘‘(b) RESTRICTIONS BASED ON PREEXISTING CONDI24 TIONS AT TIME OF PLACEMENT FOR ADOPTION PROHIB25 ITED.—A group health plan may not restrict coverage

26 under the plan of any dependent child adopted by a partic-
3

•HR 1877 IH

1 ipant, or placed with a participant for adoption by the par2 ticipant in accordance with applicable State law, solely on

3 the basis of a preexisting condition of such child at the

4 time that such child would otherwise become eligible for

5 coverage under the plan, if the adoption or placement for

6 adoption occurs while the participant is eligible for cov7 erage under the plan.

8 ‘‘(c) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section—

9 ‘‘(1) GROUP HEALTH PLAN.—The term ‘group

10 health plan’ has the meaning provided such term

11 under section 607(1).

12 ‘‘(2) CHILD.—The term ‘child’ means, in con13 nection with any adoption, or placement for adop14 tion, of the child, an individual who has not attained

15 age 18 as of the date of such adoption or placement

16 for adoption.

17 ‘‘(3) PLACEMENT FOR ADOPTION.—The term

18 ‘placement’, or being ‘placed’, for adoption, in con19 nection with any placement for adoption of a child

20 with any person, means the assumption and reten21 tion by such person of a legal obligation for total or

22 partial support of such child in anticipation of adop23 tion of such child. The child’s placement with such

24 person terminates upon the termination of such legal

25 obligation.’’.
4

•HR 1877 IH

1 (b) STATE ASSISTANCE TO EMPLOYERS.—Section

2 514(b) of such Act (29 U.S.C. 1144(b)) is amended by

3 adding at the end the following new paragraph:

4 ‘‘(9) Subsection (a) of this section shall not apply to

5 any provision of State law to the extent it provides for

6 reinsurance or similar assistance for plan sponsors in con7 nection with coverage required to be provided under sec8 tion 211.’’.

9 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—

10 (1) Section 201(1) of such Act (29 U.S.C.

11 1051(1)) is amended by inserting after ‘‘plan’’ the

12 following ‘‘(except as provided in section 211)’’.

13 (2) The table of contents in section 1 of such

14 Act is amended by striking the item relating to sec15 tion 211 and inserting the following new items:

‘‘Sec. 211. Group health plan coverage of dependent children in cases of adoption.

‘‘Sec. 212. Effective dates.’’.

16 SEC. 3. EFFECTIVE DATE.

17 (a) GENERAL RULE.—The amendments made by sec18 tion 2 shall apply with respect to plan years beginning on

19 or after January 1, 1994.

20 (b) COLLECTIVE BARGAINING AGREEMENTS.—In the

21 case of a group health plan maintained pursuant to one

22 or more collective bargaining agreements between em23 ployee representatives and one or more employers ratified

24 before the date of the enactment of this Act, the amend-
5

•HR 1877 IH

1 ments made by section 2 shall not apply to plan years be2 ginning before the later of—

3 (1) the date on which the last of the collective

4 bargaining agreements relating to the plan termi5 nates (determined without regard to any extension

6 thereof agreed to after the date of the enactment of

7 this Act), or

8 (2) January 1, 1994.

9 For purposes of paragraph (1), any plan amendment made

10 pursuant to a collective bargaining agreement relating to

11 the plan which amends the plan solely to conform to any

12 requirement added by section 2 shall not be treated as

13 a termination of such collective bargaining agreement.

Æ