110TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 2851 
AN ACT 
To amend the Employee Retirement Income Security Act 
of 1974, the Public Health Service Act, and the Internal 
Revenue Code of 1986 to ensure that dependent students 
who take a medically necessary leave of absence do not 
lose health insurance coverage, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as ‘‘Michelle’s Law’’. 
SEC. 2. COVERAGE OF DEPENDENT STUDENTS ON MEDI-
CALLY NECESSARY LEAVE OF ABSENCE. 
(a) AMENDMENTS OF ERISA.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Subpart B of part 7 of title 
I of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act 
of 1974 (29 U.S.C. 1185 et seq.) is amended by 
adding at the end the following: 
‘‘SEC. 714. COVERAGE OF DEPENDENT STUDENTS ON MEDI-
CALLY NECESSARY LEAVE OF ABSENCE. 
‘‘(a) MEDICALLY NECESSARY LEAVE OF ABSENCE.— 
In this section, the term ‘medically necessary leave of ab-
sence’ means, with respect to a dependent child described 
in subsection (b)(2) in connection with a group health plan 
or health insurance coverage offered in connection with 
such plan, a leave of absence of such child from a postsec-
ondary educational institution (including an institution of 
higher education as defined in section 102 of the Higher 
Education Act of 1965), or any other change in enrollment 
of such child at such an institution, that— 
‘‘(1) commences while such child is suffering 
from a serious illness or injury;
‘‘(2) is medically necessary; and 
‘‘(3) causes such child to lose student status for 
purposes of coverage under the terms of the plan or 
coverage. 
‘‘(b) REQUIREMENT TO CONTINUE COVERAGE.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In the case of a dependent 
child described in paragraph (2), a group health 
plan, or a health insurance issuer that provides 
health insurance coverage in connection with a group 
health plan, shall not terminate coverage of such 
child under such plan or health insurance coverage 
due to a medically necessary leave of absence before 
the date that is the earlier of— 
‘‘(A) the date that is 1 year after the first 
day of the medically necessary leave of absence; 
or 
‘‘(B) the date on which such coverage 
would otherwise terminate under the terms of 
the plan or health insurance coverage. 
‘‘(2) DEPENDENT
CHILD
DESCRIBED.—A de-
pendent child described in this paragraph is, with re-
spect to a group health plan or health insurance cov-
erage offered in connection with the plan, a bene-
ficiary under the plan who—
‘‘(A) is a dependent child, under the terms 
of the plan or coverage, of a participant or ben-
eficiary under the plan or coverage; and 
‘‘(B) was enrolled in the plan or coverage, 
on the basis of being a student at a postsec-
ondary educational institution (as described in 
subsection (a)), immediately before the first day 
of the medically necessary leave of absence in-
volved. 
‘‘(3) CERTIFICATION
BY
PHYSICIAN.—Para-
graph (1) shall apply to a group health plan or 
health insurance coverage offered by an issuer in 
connection with such plan only if the plan or issuer 
of the coverage has received written certification by 
a treating physician of the dependent child which 
states that the child is suffering from a serious ill-
ness or injury and that the leave of absence (or 
other change of enrollment) described in subsection 
(a) is medically necessary. 
‘‘(c) NOTICE.—A group health plan, and a health in-
surance issuer providing health insurance coverage in con-
nection with a group health plan, shall include, with any 
notice regarding a requirement for certification of student 
status for coverage under the plan or coverage, a descrip-
tion of the terms of this section for continued coverage
during medically necessary leaves of absence. Such de-
scription shall be in language which is understandable to 
the typical plan participant. 
‘‘(d) NO CHANGE IN BENEFITS.—A dependent child 
whose benefits are continued under this section shall be 
entitled to the same benefits as if (during the medically 
necessary leave of absence) the child continued to be a 
covered student at the institution of higher education and 
was not on a medically necessary leave of absence. 
‘‘(e) 
CONTINUED
APPLICATION
IN
CASE
OF 
CHANGED COVERAGE.—If— 
‘‘(1) a dependent child of a participant or bene-
ficiary is in a period of coverage under a group 
health plan or health insurance coverage offered in 
connection with such a plan, pursuant to a medically 
necessary leave of absence of the child described in 
subsection (b); 
‘‘(2) the manner in which the participant or 
beneficiary is covered under the plan changes, 
whether through a change in health insurance cov-
erage or health insurance issuer, a change between 
health insurance coverage and self-insured coverage, 
or otherwise; and