Patients' Health Care Choice Act of 2003

Bill: 108-hr-3423
Sponsor: Rep. Shadegg, John B. [R-AZ-3]
Introduced: 2003-10-30 in the House
Policy area: Health
Subjects: Access to health care
Accounting
Accreditation (Medical care)
Administrative fees
Administrative procedure
Bankruptcy
Bankruptcy courts
Case management
Chambers of commerce
Churches
Civil Rights and Liberties, Minority Issues
Civil actions and liability
Clergy
Coinsurance
Collective bargaining
Commerce
Communication in medicine
Computer networks
Congress
Congressional reporting requirements
Consumer education
Consumer protection
Cooperative societies
Cost effectiveness
Cost of living adjustments
Crime and Law Enforcement
Damages
Delegation of powers
Department of Health and Human Services
Disabled
Discrimination in insurance
Discrimination in medical care
Drugs
Economics and Public Finance
Education
Electronic data interchange
Emergency Management
Emergency medicine
Employee health benefits
Families
Federal advisory bodies
Federal preemption
Federal-state relations
Finance and Financial Sector
Financial statements
Fines (Penalties)
Flexible benefit plans
Government Operations and Politics
Government paperwork
Government trust funds
Grants-in-aid
Health care fraud
Health care industry
Health facilities
Health insurance
Health insurance continuation
Health insurance portability
Health maintenance organizations
Higher education
Income tax
Indexing (Economic policy)
Injunctions
Insurance agents
Insurance companies
Insurance premiums
Internet
Jurisdiction
Labor and Employment
Labor contracts
Law
Licenses
Managed care
Married people
Medical economics
Medical malpractice
Medical personnel
Medical savings accounts
Medically uninsured
Patient satisfaction
Patients' rights
Preferred provider organizations (Medical care)
Preventive medicine
Professional associations
Quality of care
Reinsurance
Religion
Religious education
Science, Technology, Communications
Self-employed
Small business
State laws
State taxation
Students
Surety and fidelity
Tax credits
Tax deductions
Tax exclusion
Tax refunds
Tax returns
Taxation
Trade associations
Trusts and trustees
User charges

Summary:
action_date: 2003-10-30
text: 
Patients' Health Care Choice Act of 2003 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to create a new title, Title XXIX - HealthMarts. Requires that HealthMarts: (1) be nonprofit entities composed of employers, employees, other individuals eligible to participate in the HealthMart, health care providers, and entities that underwrite or administer health benefits coverage; and (2) make available health coverage to all employers, eligible employees, and individuals at rates established by the insurance issuer on a policy or product specific basis. Requires that coverage made available to an eligible employee or individual in a geographic area be offered to all eligible employees or individuals in the same area. 
Creates a new Public Health Service Act title, Title XXX - Individual Membership Associations. Defines an Individual Membership Association (IMA) as an entity that: (1) has been in existence for at least five years for purposes other than obtaining insurance; (2) does not condition membership an health factors; (3) makes health coverage available to all IMA members and their dependents through an HMO, a preferred provider or licensed provider-sponsored organization, an insurance company, a medical savings or flexible spending account, a point-of-service option, or any combination of those coverages; and (4) does not make coverage available other than in connection with an IMA member. 
Requires that each State receive from the Secretary of Health and Human Services an amount equal to 50 percent of the funds expended by the State for a health benefits high risk pool, reinsurance pool, or other risk adjustment mechanism to subsidize the purchase of private health insurance. 
Small Business Access and Choice for Entrepreneurs Act of 2003 - Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) to establish rules governing health plans sponsored by certain associations, including requirements for: (1) certification; (2) sponsors and boards of trustees, and treatment of franchised networks and collectively bargained plans; (3) participation and coverage of employers and individuals and of previously uninsured employees; (4) plan documents, contribution rates, and benefit options; (5) maintenance of reserves, excess-stop loss insurance, and indemnification insurance; (6) applications and related requirements; (7) notice for voluntary termination; and (8) corrective actions and mandatory termination. 
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) allow a credit for qualified health insurance; (2) exclude from the gross income of an eligible employee who elects not to participate in an employer-subsidized health plan any compensating coverage employer payment; and (3) expand the availability of medical savings accounts. 
Amends the Public Health Service Act to require each health insurance issuer offering coverage in connection with a group plan to provide: (1) the plan's Administrator with specified information on plan benefits, a participant's financial responsibilities, legal recourse options available for participants and beneficiaries, and a summary of information available on request; and (2) prior notice to participants of exclusion of a specific drug or biological from any drug formulary that is used in the treatment of a chronic illness or disease.

Legislative actions:
action_date: 2003-12-01
text: Referred to the Subcommittee on Employer-Employee Relations.
action_date: 2003-11-14
text: Referred to the Subcommittee on Health.
action_date: 2003-11-14
text: Referred to the Subcommittee on Health.
action_date: 2003-10-30
text: Referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committees on Education and the Workforce, and Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
action_date: 2003-10-30
text: Referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committees on Education and the Workforce, and Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
action_date: 2003-10-30
text: Referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committees on Education and the Workforce, and Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
action_date: 2003-10-30
text: Referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committees on Education and the Workforce, and Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
action_date: 2003-10-30
text: Introduced in House
action_date: 2003-10-30
text: Introduced in House