Title: Health Care Options Act of 2017
Policy area: Taxation

Summary:
Health Care Options Act of 2017
This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to temporarily permit certain individuals to use the premium assistance tax credit to purchase health insurance outside of an exchange established under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care (PPACA).
The bill applies to individuals who reside in a rating area or county that the Department of Health and Human Services has certified has no qualified health plans offered through an exchange established under PPACA.
Individuals residing in the areas or counties may use the premium assistance tax credit through 2019 to enroll in a plan outside of an exchange if the plan is: (1) authorized by the state in which the taxpayer resides to be offered in the individual market, or (2) is a not-for-profit membership organization that is organized and authorized under state law to accept member contributions to fund health care benefits for members and their families.
The bill prohibits advance payments of the credit from being made with respect to the off-exchange plans and specifies reporting requirements for the plans.
Through 2019, the bill also exempts the individuals residing in the counties or areas from the requirement to maintain minimum essential health coverage (commonly referred to as the individual mandate).

[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 761 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

<DOC>






115th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 761

  To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to allow individuals to 
 receive a premium assistance credit for insurance not purchased on an 
                   Exchange, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 29, 2017

  Mr. Alexander (for himself and Mr. Corker) introduced the following 
  bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to allow individuals to 
 receive a premium assistance credit for insurance not purchased on an 
                   Exchange, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Health Care Options Act of 2017''.

SEC. 2. PREMIUM ASSISTANCE CREDIT ALLOWED FOR INSURANCE OUTSIDE AN 
              EXCHANGE.

    (a) In General.--Section 36B of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 
is amended by redesignating subsection (g) as subsection (h) and by 
inserting after subsection (f) the following new subsection:
    ``(g) Special Rules Relating to Certain Off-Exchange Plans.--
            ``(1) In general.--In the case of a taxpayer described in 
        paragraph (2) who is covered, or whose spouse or dependent is 
        covered, by a plan described in paragraph (3) for a coverage 
        month beginning after December 31, 2017, and before January 1, 
        2020, this section shall be applied with the following 
        modifications:
                    ``(A) Such plan shall be treated as a qualified 
                health plan.
                    ``(B) Subparagraph (A) of subsection (b)(2) shall 
                be applied without regard to so much of such 
                subparagraph as follows `of the taxpayer' and precedes 
                `, or'.
                    ``(C) Clause (i) of subsection (b)(3)(B) shall be 
                applied by substituting `through an Exchange' for 
                `through the same Exchange through which the qualified 
                health plans taken into account under paragraph (2)(A) 
                were offered'.
                    ``(D) Clause (i) of subsection (c)(2)(A) shall be 
                applied without regard to so much of such clause as 
                follows `(b)(2)(A)' and precedes `, and'.
                    ``(E) Subsection (d)(3)(B) shall be applied without 
                regard to `through an Exchange'.
            ``(2) Taxpayer described.--For purposes of this subsection, 
        a taxpayer is described in this paragraph if the taxpayer 
        resides in a rating area or county in which the Secretary of 
        Health and Human Services certifies that no qualified health 
        plans are offered through an Exchange established under Section 
        1311 of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.
            ``(3) Plans described.--For purposes of this subsection, a 
        plan is described in this paragraph if--
                    ``(A) enrollment in the plan was not done through 
                an Exchange, and
                    ``(B) the plan is authorized by the State in which 
                the taxpayer resides to be offered in the individual 
                market in the State other than through an Exchange, or 
                is a not-for-profit membership organization organized 
                under State law and authorized under State law to 
                accept member contributions to fund health care 
                benefits for members and their families.''.
    (b) Off-Exchange Plans Excluded From Advance Payments.--Section 
1412 of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (42 U.S.C. 
18082) is amended by adding at the end the following new subsection:
    ``(f) Nonapplication to Off-Exchange Plans.--This section and 
section 1411 shall not apply, and no advance determination or advance 
payment shall be made, in the case of an individual enrolling in a plan 
described in section 36B(g)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.''.
    (c) Reporting.--Subsection (b) of section 6055 of the Internal 
Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by adding at the end the following new 
paragraph:
            ``(3) Information relating to off-exchange coverage.--If 
        minimum essential coverage provided to an individual under 
        subsection (a) consists of coverage described in section 
        36B(g)(3), a return described in this subsection for taxable 
        years beginning before January 1, 2020, shall include--
                    ``(A) a statement that such plan is coverage not 
                enrolled in through an Exchange,
                    ``(B) the premiums paid with respect to such 
                coverage,
                    ``(C) the months during which such coverage is 
                provided to the individual,
                    ``(D) the adjusted monthly premium for the 
                applicable second lowest cost silver plan (as defined 
                in section 36B(b)(3), determined without regard to 
                whether such plan is offered through an Exchange if the 
                Secretary of Health and Human Services has made the 
                determination under section 36B(g)(2) with respect to 
                the rating area) for each such month with respect to 
                such individual, and
                    ``(E) such other information as the Secretary may 
                prescribe.''.
    (d) Waiver of Individual Mandate in Areas With No Exchange Plans.--
            (1) In general.--Paragraph (1) of section 5000A(d) of the 
        Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by striking ``or (4)'' 
        and inserting ``(4), or (5)''.
            (2) Individuals residing in exempted areas.--Subsection (d) 
        of section 5000A of such Code is amended by adding at the end 
        the following new paragraph:
            ``(5) Individuals residing in exempted areas.--For purposes 
        of months beginning after December 31, 2017, and before January 
        1, 2020, such term shall not include an individual who resides 
        in a rating area or county in which the Secretary of Health and 
        Human Services certifies for purposes of section 36B(g)(2) that 
        no qualified health plans are offered through an Exchange 
        established under Section 1311 of the Patient Protection and 
        Affordable Care Act.''.
    (e) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall 
apply to taxable and plan years beginning after December 31, 2017.
                                 <all>