Access to Affordable Health Care Act

Bill: 108-s-100
Sponsor: Sen. Collins, Susan M. [R-ME]
Introduced: 2003-01-07 in the Senate
Policy area: Health
Subjects: Access to health care
Administrative procedure
Agriculture and Food
Aid to dependent children
Block grants
Caregivers
Child nutrition
Chronically ill
Civil Rights and Liberties, Minority Issues
Commerce
Community health services
Conflict of interests
Congress
Congressional reporting requirements
Consumer education
Consumer protection
Cooperative societies
Crime and Law Enforcement
Disabled
Discrimination in insurance
Discrimination in medical care
Drug abuse
Economics and Public Finance
Education
Elementary and secondary education
Employee health benefits
Excise tax
Families
Federal aid to education
Federal aid to health facilities
Finance and Financial Sector
Fines (Penalties)
Food stamps
Government Operations and Politics
Government contractors
Government paperwork
Government procurement
Government trust funds
Grants-in-aid
Health care fraud
Health education
Health insurance
Health planning
Higher education
Homeless
Hospital care
Hospitals
Housing and Community Development
Immigrant health
Immigration
Income tax
Indexing (Economic policy)
Insurance premiums
Labor and Employment
Law
Legislation
Lifestyle
Long-term care
Long-term care insurance
Marketing
Maternal health services
Medicaid
Medical economics
Medical education
Medical fees
Medically uninsured
Medicare
Mental health services
Nonprofit organizations
Nursing
Nutrition
Obesity
Parents
Part-time employment
Physical education and training
Physicians
Pregnant women
Preventive medicine
Public health personnel
Quality of care
Reinsurance
Retiree health benefits
Rural health
Scholarships
School health programs
School lunch program
Self-employed
Signs and symbols
Small business
Smoking
Social Welfare
Sports and Recreation
Student loan funds
Subsidies
Tax credits
Tax deductions
Tax exclusion
Tax penalties
Tax refunds
Tax returns
Taxation
Urban affairs
Urban areas
Welfare eligibility
Welfare work participation
Withholding tax
Women

Summary:
action_date: 2003-01-07
text: Access to Affordable Health Care Act - Addresses health care access issues for small businesses, individuals and families, and rural and underserved areas. Addresses issues of the health care safety net, long-term care, the promotion of healthier lifestyles, and Medicare.
Targets small businesses through tax credits for employee health insurance expenses and grants for health insurance purchasing groups, information dissemination, and access innovation.
Targets individuals and families through health insurance cost credits and full premium deductibility for the self-employed. Renames the State Children's Health Insurance program as the FamilyCare program and revises the program, providing coverage for certain parents and optional coverage of legal immigrants and children through age 20 under the program and Medicaid. Revises restrictions, procedures, and allotments. Amends the Public Health Service Act to award State grants for the creation of high risk pools.
Expresses the sense of the Senate that appropriations for consolidated health centers and the National Health Service Corps under the Public Health Service Act should be doubled over the next five fiscal years.
Targets rural and underserved areas through revisions to the loan repayment and scholarship programs of the National Health Service Corps.
Targets long-term care through Internal Revenue Code amendments concerning specified credits, deductions, and model provisions.
Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to: (1) make grants to States for community partnership healthy lifestyle activities and small business worksite wellness programs; (2) expand comprehensive school health education programs; and (3) establish Medicare demonstration projects providing bonus payments for high-quality, low-cost inpatient hospital or physician's services and clinical practitioners to hospitals serving beneficiaries in underserved areas.

Legislative actions:
action_date: 2003-01-07
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
action_date: 2003-01-07
text: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S78-80)
action_date: 2003-01-07
text: Introduced in Senate