Title: Health Care Market Certainty and Mandate Relief Act
Policy area: Health

Summary:
Health Care Market Certainty and Mandate Relief Act
This bill appropriates such sums as necessary to pay through health care plan year 2019 the cost-sharing reductions authorized in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. (A cost-sharing reduction is a discount that lowers the amount an individual pays for deductibles, copayments, and coinsurance; the federal government pays the difference directly to insurers.) The bill excludes payments to insurers that cover abortions other than abortions necessary to save the life of the pregnant woman or abortions of a pregnancy resulting from rape or incest.
The bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to suspend for 2017-2021 the individual mandate to maintain minimum health care coverage.
The bill suspends the employer health care mandate for 2015-2017, thereby exempting employers from penalties for failing to provide mandated coverage during that time period.
The bill increases the monthly contribution limit for health savings accounts through 2022.

[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2052 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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115th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 2052

  To provide for temporary funding for health insurance cost-sharing 
   reduction payments and provide targeted tax relief, and for other 
                               purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            November 1, 2017

   Mr. Hatch introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
                  referred to the Committee on Finance

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To provide for temporary funding for health insurance cost-sharing 
   reduction payments and provide targeted tax relief, 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 Market Certainty and 
Mandate Relief Act''.

SEC. 2. COST-SHARING REDUCTION PAYMENTS.

    (a) In General.--
            (1) Appropriations.--There is appropriated to the Secretary 
        of Health and Human Services, out of any funds in the Treasury 
        not otherwise appropriated, such sums as may be necessary for 
        payments for cost-sharing reductions authorized by section 1402 
        of Public Law 111-148, including through advanced payment of 
        such reductions under section 1412 of such Public Law for plan 
        years 2017, 2018, and 2019 (and including for adjustments to 
        any prior obligations for such payments).
            (2) Adjustments.--Notwithstanding any other provision of 
        this Act, payments and other actions for adjustments to 
        obligations incurred prior to December 31, 2019, may be made 
        through December 31, 2020.
            (3) Limitation.--Amounts appropriated under paragraph (1) 
        shall not include payment to an issuer of a qualified health 
        plan that includes coverage of abortion (other than any 
        abortion necessary to save the life of the mother or any 
        abortion with respect to a pregnancy that is the result of an 
        act of rape or incest).
    (b) Special Rule for Plan Year 2018 Payments.--Section 1402(c) of 
Public Law 111-148 (42 U.S.C. 18071(c)) is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (3)(A), by striking ``An issuer'' and 
        inserting ``Subject to paragraph (6), an issuer''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
            ``(6) Special rule for plan year 2018 payments.--
                    ``(A) In general.--The Secretary shall make 
                payments under paragraph (3)(A), including through 
                advanced payment for cost-sharing reduction under 
                section 1412, for plan year 2018 to an issuer of a 
                qualified health plan, subject to subparagraph (C), 
                only if the Secretary determines, based on a 
                certification and appropriate documentation from the 
                issuer and a certification from State regulators, that 
                the premium rates applied under such plan for such plan 
                year were based on the assumption of receiving payments 
                under paragraph (3)(A) for such plan year (including by 
                reason of the plan being offered in a State in which 
                the State regulators instructed issuers of health plans 
                in such State to make such an assumption).
                    ``(B) Recovery of past payments.--If the Secretary 
                makes payments to an issuer of a qualified health plan 
                under paragraph (3)(A) for plan year 2018 and 
                subsequently determines that such issuer increased 
                premium rates for that plan year because the issuer 
                expected, or was instructed by applicable State 
                regulators to expect, that the issuer would not receive 
                such payments (or, in the case of such payments made to 
                an issuer of a qualified health plan for plan year 2018 
                pursuant to subparagraph (C), determines that such 
                issuer did not reduce premium rates under such plan for 
                such plan year to such rates as described in clause 
                (i)(I) of such subparagraph) the Secretary may reduce 
                payments due to such issuer under paragraph (3)(A) for 
                a subsequent plan year by the amount paid to such 
                issuer under such paragraph for plan year 2018.
                    ``(C) Payments allowed in case of issuers in states 
                providing for premium adjustment process.--
                Notwithstanding subparagraph (A), the Secretary may 
                make payments under paragraph (3)(A) for plan year 2018 
                to an issuer of a qualified health plan not otherwise 
                eligible for such payments pursuant to subparagraph (A) 
                if--
                            ``(i) the qualified health plan is offered 
                        in a State for such plan year for which the 
                        State insurance commissioner notifies the 
                        Secretary of the Treasury and the Secretary of 
                        Health and Human Services of a process provided 
                        for in the State under which--
                                    ``(I) issuers of qualified health 
                                plans in such State choosing to 
                                participate in such process are 
                                required to reduce premium rates under 
                                such plans for plan year 2018 to the 
                                rates that would have been applied 
                                under such plans for such plan year had 
                                the issuers assumed payments for cost-
                                sharing reductions under such paragraph 
                                would be received for such plan year; 
                                and
                                    ``(II) the State submits to the 
                                Secretaries information to verify that 
                                the reduction of the premium rate under 
                                a qualified health plan offered by an 
                                issuer participating under such process 
                                satisfies the reduction requirement 
                                described in subclause (I); and
                            ``(ii) the issuer of such qualified health 
                        plan chooses to participate in such process.
                    ``(D) Reconciliation process.--The Secretary of the 
                Treasury and the Secretary of Health and Human Services 
                shall adjust the methodologies under section 156.430 of 
                title 45, Code of Federal Regulations (as in effect on 
                the date of enactment of the Health Care Market 
                Certainty and Mandate Relief Act), as may be necessary 
                to correct for any overpayments or underpayments made 
                under this section to an issuer in accordance with this 
                paragraph.''.

SEC. 3. MORATORIUM ON INDIVIDUAL MANDATE.

    Section 5000A of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended--
            (1) in subsection (a), by striking ``An applicable'' and 
        inserting ``Except as provided in subsection (h), an 
        applicable''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following new subsection:
    ``(h) Suspension.--This section shall not apply to any month 
beginning after December 31, 2016, and before January 1, 2022.''.

SEC. 4. MORATORIUM ON EMPLOYER MANDATE.

    Section 4980H of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by 
adding at the end the following new subsection:
    ``(e) Suspension.--This section shall not apply to any month 
beginning after December 31, 2014, and before January 1, 2018.''.

SEC. 5. MAXIMUM CONTRIBUTION LIMIT TO HEALTH SAVINGS ACCOUNT INCREASED 
              TO AMOUNT OF DEDUCTIBLE AND OUT-OF-POCKET LIMITATION.

    (a) In General.--Subsection (b) of section 223 of the Internal 
Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by adding at the end the following new 
paragraph:
            ``(9) Increased limitation.--In the case of any month 
        beginning after December 31, 2017, and before January 1, 2023--
                    ``(A) paragraph (2)(A) shall be applied by 
                substituting `the amount in effect under subsection 
                (c)(2)(A)(ii)(I)' for `$2,250', and
                    ``(B) paragraph (2)(B) shall be applied by 
                substituting `the amount in effect under subsection 
                (c)(2)(A)(ii)(II)' for `$4,500'.''.
    (b) Effective Date.--The amendment made by this section shall apply 
to taxable years beginning after December 31, 2017.
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