203
‘‘(4) SPECIAL
RULES.—For purposes of this 
subsection—
‘‘(A) all eligible retirement plans of an em-
ployer shall be treated as a single plan, and 
‘‘(B) with respect to an eligible retirement 
plan of an employer, a beneficiary or alternate 
payee (as defined in section 414(p)(8)) of a 
former employee shall be treated in the same 
manner as the former employee. 
‘‘(5) TREATMENT AS DISTRIBUTION.—For pur-
poses of this title, any payment under this sub-
section from an eligible retirement plan for coverage 
under an accident or health plan on behalf of a 
former employee shall be treated as a distribution 
from the eligible retirement plan to the former em-
ployee, except to the extent that such treatment is 
inconsistent with this subsection. Such a payment 
shall be treated as a permissible distribution from 
the eligible retirement plan to the former employee 
to the same extent that a cash distribution to the 
former employee would be permissible.’’. 
(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The portion of sub-
section (h) of section 401 that precedes section 401(h)(1) 
is amended by striking ‘‘but only if’’ and inserting ‘‘but
204
only if provided pursuant to a qualified election described 
in section 106(d) or if’’. 
(c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 
this section shall apply to amounts paid for coverage under 
an accident health plan in years beginning after December 
31, 2003. 
SEC. 1402. ENCOURAGING EMPLOYERS TO MAINTAIN RE-
TIREE HEALTH PLANS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The first sentence of subsection 
(h) of section 401 (relating to medical, etc., benefits for 
retired employees and their spouses and dependents) is 
amended by striking ‘‘pension or annuity plan’’ and insert-
ing ‘‘pension, annuity, profit-sharing, or stock bonus 
plan’’. 
(b) PHASE-IN
OF PERMISSIBLE CONTRIBUTIONS 
FROM PROFIT-SHARING AND STOCK BONUS PLANS.—
Subsection (h) of section 401 (relating to medical, etc., 
benefits for retired employees and their spouses and de-
pendents) is amended by adding at the end the following 
new sentence: ‘‘For purposes of the preceding sentence, 
in the case of contributions to a profit-sharing or stock 
bonus plan for plan years before plan years beginning in 
2010, the ‘applicable percentage’ shall be substituted for 
‘25 percent’, and the term ‘applicable percentage’ means 
5 percent for plan years beginning in 2004 and 2005, 10
205
percent for plan years beginning in 2006 and 2007, and 
20 percent for plan years beginning in 2008 and 2009.’’. 
(c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 
this section shall apply to years beginning after December 
31, 2003.
TITLE XV—REDUCING 
REGULATORY BURDENS 
SEC. 1501. PROVISIONS RELATING TO PLAN AMENDMENTS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—If this section applies to any plan 
or contract amendment—
(1) such plan or contract shall be treated as 
being operated in accordance with the terms of the 
plan during the period described in subsection 
(b)(2)(A), and 
(2) except as provided by the Secretary of the 
Treasury, such plan shall not fail to meet the re-
quirements of section 411(d)(6) of the Internal Rev-
enue Code of 1986 and section 204(g) of the Em-
ployee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 by 
reason of such amendment. 
(b) AMENDMENTS TO WHICH SECTION APPLIES.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—This section shall apply to 
any amendment to any plan or annuity contract 
which is made—
206
(A) pursuant to any amendment made by 
this Act or title VI of the Economic Growth and 
Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001, or pur-
suant to any regulation issued by the Secretary 
of the Treasury or the Secretary of Labor 
under this Act or such title VI, and 
(B) on or before the last day of the first 
plan year beginning on or after January 1, 
2006. 
In the case of a governmental plan (as defined in 
section 414(d) of the Internal Revenue Code of 
1986), this paragraph shall be applied by sub-
stituting ‘‘2008’’ for ‘‘2006’’. 
(2) CONDITIONS.—This section shall not apply 
to any amendment unless—
(A) during the period—
(i) beginning on the date the legisla-
tive or regulatory amendment described in 
paragraph (1)(A) takes effect (or in the 
case of a plan or contract amendment not 
required by such legislative or regulatory 
amendment, the effective date specified by 
the plan), and 
(ii) ending on the date described in 
paragraph (1)(B) (or, if earlier, the date
207
the plan or contract amendment is adopt-
ed), 
the plan or contract is operated as if such plan 
or contract amendment were in effect; and 
(B) such plan or contract amendment ap-
plies retroactively for such period. 
TITLE 
XVI—SOCIAL 
SECURITY 
AND MEDICARE HELD HARM-
LESS 
SEC. 1601. PROTECTION OF SOCIAL SECURITY AND MEDI-
CARE. 
The amounts transferred to any trust fund under the 
Social Security Act shall be determined as if this Act had 
not been enacted.
Æ