Title: Improving Choices in Health Care Coverage Act
Policy area: Health

Summary:
Improving Choices in Health Care Coverage Act
This bill requires a health insurance issuer that offers short-term, limited-duration insurance to renew the coverage at the option of the individual.

[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2507 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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115th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 2507

 To require short-term limited duration insurance issuers to renew or 
    continue in force such coverage at the option of the enrollees.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 7, 2018

 Mr. Barrasso introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
  referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To require short-term limited duration insurance issuers to renew or 
    continue in force such coverage at the option of the enrollees.

    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 ``Improving Choices in Health Care 
Coverage Act''.

SEC. 2. SHORT-TERM LIMITED DURATION INSURANCE.

    (a) Definition.--Section 2791(b) of the Public Health Service Act 
(42 U.S.C. 300gg-91(b)) is amended by adding at the end the following:
            ``(6) Short-term limited duration insurance.--The term 
        `short-term limited duration insurance' means health insurance 
        coverage provided pursuant to a contract with a health 
        insurance issuer that has an expiration date specified in the 
        contract (not taking into account any extensions that may be 
        elected by the policyholder with or without the issuer's 
        consent) that is less than 12 months after the original 
        effective date of the contract.''.
    (b) Guaranteed Renewability.--Section 2703 of the Public Health 
Service Act (42 U.S.C. 300gg-2) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (a), by inserting ``or offers short-term 
        limited duration insurance'' after ``group market''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(f) Application to Short-Term Limited Duration Insurance.--
            ``(1) In general.--In applying this section in the case of 
        short-term limited duration insurance--
                    ``(A) a reference to `health insurance coverage' 
                with respect to such coverage offered in the individual 
                market shall be deemed to include short-term limited 
                duration insurance; and
                    ``(B) a reference to `health insurance issuer' with 
                respect to health insurance coverage offered in the 
                individual market shall be deemed to include an issuer 
                of short-term limited duration insurance.
            ``(2) Special rule for short-term limited duration 
        insurance.--In the case of short-term limited duration 
        insurance, at the time of application for enrollment in such 
        insurance coverage, an individual may decline renewability of 
        such coverage in accordance with this section, and the contract 
        between such individual and the health insurance issuer shall 
        specify whether the individual opted for renewability or no 
        renewability.''.
    (c) Applicability.--The amendments made by subsections (a) and (b) 
shall apply with respect to contracts for short-term limited duration 
insurance that take effect on or after May 1, 2018.
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