the meanings provided such terms in section 812, respec-
tively.’’. 
(3) Section 514(b)(6)(A) of such Act (29 
U.S.C. 1144(b)(6)(A)) is amended—
(A) in clause (i)(II), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 
the end; 
(B) in clause (ii), by inserting ‘‘and which 
does not provide medical care (within the mean-
ing of section 733(a)(2)),’’ after ‘‘arrange-
ment,’’, and by striking ‘‘title.’’ and inserting 
‘‘title, and’’; and 
(C) by adding at the end the following new 
clause: 
‘‘(iii) subject to subparagraph (E), in the case 
of any other employee welfare benefit plan which is 
a multiple employer welfare arrangement and which 
provides medical care (within the meaning of section 
733(a)(2)), any law of any State which regulates in-
surance may apply.’’. 
(4) Section 514(e) of such Act (as redesignated 
by paragraph (2)(C)) is amended—
(A) by striking ‘‘Nothing’’ and inserting 
‘‘(1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), noth-
ing’’; and
(B) by adding at the end the following new 
paragraph: 
‘‘(2) Nothing in any other provision of law enacted 
on or after the date of the enactment of the Small Busi-
ness Health Fairness Act of 2005 shall be construed to 
alter, amend, modify, invalidate, impair, or supersede any 
provision of this title, except by specific cross-reference to 
the affected section.’’. 
(c) PLAN SPONSOR.—Section 3(16)(B) of such Act 
(29 U.S.C. 102(16)(B)) is amended by adding at the end 
the following new sentence: ‘‘Such term also includes a 
person serving as the sponsor of an association health plan 
under part 8.’’. 
(d) DISCLOSURE OF SOLVENCY PROTECTIONS RE-
LATED TO SELF-INSURED AND FULLY INSURED OPTIONS 
UNDER ASSOCIATION HEALTH PLANS.—Section 102(b) 
of such Act (29 U.S.C. 102(b)) is amended by adding at 
the end the following: ‘‘An association health plan shall 
include in its summary plan description, in connection 
with each benefit option, a description of the form of sol-
vency or guarantee fund protection secured pursuant to 
this Act or applicable State law, if any.’’. 
(e) SAVINGS CLAUSE.—Section 731(c) of such Act is 
amended by inserting ‘‘or part 8’’ after ‘‘this part’’.
(f) REPORT TO THE CONGRESS REGARDING CERTIFI-
CATION
OF
SELF-INSURED
ASSOCIATION
HEALTH 
PLANS.—Not later than January 1, 2010, the Secretary 
of Labor shall report to the Committee on Education and 
the Workforce of the House of Representatives and the 
Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of 
the Senate the effect association health plans have had, 
if any, on reducing the number of uninsured individuals. 
(g) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 
in section 1 of the Employee Retirement Income Security 
Act of 1974 is amended by inserting after the item relat-
ing to section 734 the following new items:
‘‘PART 8—RULES GOVERNING ASSOCIATION HEALTH PLANS 
‘‘801. Association health plans. 
‘‘802. Certification of association health plans. 
‘‘803. Requirements relating to sponsors and boards of trustees. 
‘‘804. Participation and coverage requirements. 
‘‘805. Other requirements relating to plan documents, contribution rates, and 
benefit options. 
‘‘806. Maintenance of reserves and provisions for solvency for plans providing 
health benefits in addition to health insurance coverage. 
‘‘807. Requirements for application and related requirements. 
‘‘808. Notice requirements for voluntary termination. 
‘‘809. Corrective actions and mandatory termination. 
‘‘810. Trusteeship by the Secretary of insolvent association health plans pro-
viding health benefits in addition to health insurance coverage. 
‘‘811. State assessment authority. 
‘‘812. Definitions and rules of construction.’’.
SEC. 3. CLARIFICATION OF TREATMENT OF SINGLE EM-
PLOYER ARRANGEMENTS. 
Section 3(40)(B) of the Employee Retirement Income 
Security Act of 1974 (29 U.S.C. 1002(40)(B)) is amend-
ed—
(1) in clause (i), by inserting after ‘‘control 
group,’’ the following: ‘‘except that, in any case in 
which the benefit referred to in subparagraph (A) 
consists of medical care (as defined in section 
812(a)(2)), two or more trades or businesses, wheth-
er or not incorporated, shall be deemed a single em-
ployer for any plan year of such plan, or any fiscal 
year of such other arrangement, if such trades or 
businesses are within the same control group during 
such year or at any time during the preceding 1-year 
period,’’; 
(2) in clause (iii), by striking ‘‘(iii) the deter-
mination’’ and inserting the following: 
‘‘(iii)(I) in any case in which the benefit re-
ferred to in subparagraph (A) consists of medical 
care (as defined in section 812(a)(2)), the deter-
mination of whether a trade or business is under 
‘common control’ with another trade or business 
shall be determined under regulations of the Sec-
retary applying principles consistent and coextensive 
with the principles applied in determining whether 
employees of two or more trades or businesses are 
treated as employed by a single employer under sec-
tion 4001(b), except that, for purposes of this para-
graph, an interest of greater than 25 percent may
not be required as the minimum interest necessary 
for common control, or 
‘‘(II) in any other case, the determination’’; 
(3) by redesignating clauses (iv) and (v) as 
clauses (v) and (vi), respectively; and 
(4) by inserting after clause (iii) the following 
new clause: 
‘‘(iv) in any case in which the benefit referred 
to in subparagraph (A) consists of medical care (as 
defined in section 812(a)(2)), in determining, after 
the application of clause (i), whether benefits are 
provided to employees of two or more employers, the 
arrangement shall be treated as having only one par-
ticipating employer if, after the application of clause 
(i), the number of individuals who are employees and 
former employees of any one participating employer 
and who are covered under the arrangement is 
greater than 75 percent of the aggregate number of 
all individuals who are employees or former employ-
ees of participating employers and who are covered 
under the arrangement,’’. 
SEC. 4. ENFORCEMENT PROVISIONS RELATING TO ASSO-
CIATION HEALTH PLANS. 
(a) CRIMINAL PENALTIES FOR CERTAIN WILLFUL 
MISREPRESENTATIONS.—Section 501 of the Employee
Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (29 U.S.C. 1131) 
is amended—
(1) by inserting ‘‘(a)’’ after ‘‘Sec. 501.’’; and 
(2) by adding at the end the following new sub-
section: 
‘‘(b) Any person who willfully falsely represents, to 
any employee, any employee’s beneficiary, any employer, 
the Secretary, or any State, a plan or other arrangement 
established or maintained for the purpose of offering or 
providing any benefit described in section 3(1) to employ-
ees or their beneficiaries as—
‘‘(1) being an association health plan which has 
been certified under part 8; 
‘‘(2) having been established or maintained 
under or pursuant to one or more collective bar-
gaining agreements which are reached pursuant to 
collective bargaining described in section 8(d) of the 
National Labor Relations Act (29 U.S.C. 158(d)) or 
paragraph Fourth of section 2 of the Railway Labor 
Act (45 U.S.C. 152, paragraph Fourth) or which are 
reached pursuant to labor-management negotiations 
under similar provisions of State public employee re-
lations laws; or 
‘‘(3) being a plan or arrangement described in 
section 3(40)(A)(i),
shall, upon conviction, be imprisoned not more than 5 
years, be fined under title 18, United States Code, or 
both.’’. 
(b) CEASE ACTIVITIES ORDERS.—Section 502 of 
such Act (29 U.S.C. 1132) is amended by adding at the 
end the following new subsection: 
‘‘(n) ASSOCIATION HEALTH PLAN CEASE AND DE-
SIST ORDERS.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), 
upon application by the Secretary showing the oper-
ation, promotion, or marketing of an association 
health plan (or similar arrangement providing bene-
fits consisting of medical care (as defined in section 
733(a)(2))) that—
‘‘(A) is not certified under part 8, is sub-
ject under section 514(b)(6) to the insurance 
laws of any State in which the plan or arrange-
ment offers or provides benefits, and is not li-
censed, registered, or otherwise approved under 
the insurance laws of such State; or 
‘‘(B) is an association health plan certified 
under part 8 and is not operating in accordance 
with the requirements under part 8 for such 
certification,
a district court of the United States shall enter an 
order requiring that the plan or arrangement cease 
activities. 
‘‘(2) EXCEPTION.—Paragraph (1) shall not 
apply in the case of an association health plan or 
other arrangement if the plan or arrangement shows 
that—
‘‘(A) all benefits under it referred to in 
paragraph (1) consist of health insurance cov-
erage; and 
‘‘(B) with respect to each State in which 
the plan or arrangement offers or provides ben-
efits, the plan or arrangement is operating in 
accordance with applicable State laws that are 
not superseded under section 514. 
‘‘(3) ADDITIONAL
EQUITABLE
RELIEF.—The 
court may grant such additional equitable relief, in-
cluding any relief available under this title, as it 
deems necessary to protect the interests of the pub-
lic and of persons having claims for benefits against 
the plan.’’. 
(c) RESPONSIBILITY
FOR CLAIMS PROCEDURE.—
Section 503 of such Act (29 U.S.C. 1133) is amended by 
inserting ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—’’ before ‘‘In accordance’’, 
and by adding at the end the following new subsection:
‘‘(b) ASSOCIATION HEALTH PLANS.—The terms of 
each association health plan which is or has been certified 
under part 8 shall require the board of trustees or the 
named fiduciary (as applicable) to ensure that the require-
ments of this section are met in connection with claims 
filed under the plan.’’. 
SEC. 5. COOPERATION BETWEEN FEDERAL AND STATE AU-
THORITIES. 
Section 506 of the Employee Retirement Income Se-
curity Act of 1974 (29 U.S.C. 1136) is amended by adding 
at the end the following new subsection: 
‘‘(d) CONSULTATION WITH STATES WITH RESPECT 
TO ASSOCIATION HEALTH PLANS.—
‘‘(1) AGREEMENTS
WITH
STATES.—The Sec-
retary shall consult with the State recognized under 
paragraph (2) with respect to an association health 
plan regarding the exercise of—
‘‘(A) the Secretary’s authority under sec-
tions 502 and 504 to enforce the requirements 
for certification under part 8; and 
‘‘(B) the Secretary’s authority to certify 
association health plans under part 8 in accord-
ance with regulations of the Secretary applica-
ble to certification under part 8.
‘‘(2) RECOGNITION
OF
PRIMARY
DOMICILE 
STATE.—In carrying out paragraph (1), the Sec-
retary shall ensure that only one State will be recog-
nized, with respect to any particular association 
health plan, as the State with which consultation is 
required. In carrying out this paragraph—
‘‘(A) in the case of a plan which provides 
health insurance coverage (as defined in section 
812(a)(3)), such State shall be the State with 
which filing and approval of a policy type of-
fered by the plan was initially obtained, and 
‘‘(B) in any other case, the Secretary shall 
take into account the places of residence of the 
participants and beneficiaries under the plan 
and the State in which the trust is main-
tained.’’. 
SEC. 6. EFFECTIVE DATE AND TRANSITIONAL AND OTHER 
RULES. 
(a) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 
this Act shall take effect 1 year after the date of the enact-
ment of this Act. The Secretary of Labor shall first issue 
all regulations necessary to carry out the amendments 
made by this Act within 1 year after the date of the enact-
ment of this Act.
(b) TREATMENT
OF CERTAIN EXISTING HEALTH 
BENEFITS PROGRAMS.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—In any case in which, as of 
the date of the enactment of this Act, an arrange-
ment is maintained in a State for the purpose of 
providing benefits consisting of medical care for the 
employees and beneficiaries of its participating em-
ployers, at least 200 participating employers make 
contributions to such arrangement, such arrange-
ment has been in existence for at least 10 years, and 
such arrangement is licensed under the laws of one 
or more States to provide such benefits to its par-
ticipating employers, upon the filing with the appli-
cable authority (as defined in section 812(a)(5) of 
the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 
1974 (as amended by this subtitle)) by the arrange-
ment of an application for certification of the ar-
rangement under part 8 of subtitle B of title I of 
such Act—
(A) such arrangement shall be deemed to 
be a group health plan for purposes of title I 
of such Act; 
(B) the requirements of sections 801(a) 
and 803(a) of the Employee Retirement Income
Security Act of 1974 shall be deemed met with 
respect to such arrangement; 
(C) the requirements of section 803(b) of 
such Act shall be deemed met, if the arrange-
ment is operated by a board of directors 
which—
(i) is elected by the participating em-
ployers, with each employer having one 
vote; and 
(ii) has complete fiscal control over 
the arrangement and which is responsible 
for all operations of the arrangement; 
(D) the requirements of section 804(a) of 
such Act shall be deemed met with respect to 
such arrangement; and 
(E) the arrangement may be certified by 
any applicable authority with respect to its op-
erations in any State only if it operates in such 
State on the date of certification. 
The provisions of this subsection shall cease to apply 
with respect to any such arrangement at such time 
after the date of the enactment of this Act as the 
applicable requirements of this subsection are not 
met with respect to such arrangement.
(2) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this sub-
section, the terms ‘‘group health plan’’, ‘‘medical 
care’’, and ‘‘participating employer’’ shall have the 
meanings provided in section 812 of the Employee 
Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, except 
that the reference in paragraph (7) of such section 
to an ‘‘association health plan’’ shall be deemed a 
reference to an arrangement referred to in this sub-
section.
Passed the House of Representatives July 26, 2005. 
Attest:
Clerk.