Access to Affordable Health Care Act

Bill: 109-s-1225
Sponsor: Sen. Collins, Susan M. [R-ME]
Introduced: 2005-06-13 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 child health services
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)
Indian medical care
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
Minorities
Nonprofit organizations
Nursing
Nutrition
Obesity
Parents
Part-time employment
Performance measurement
Physical education and training
Physicians
Poor children
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
WIC program
Welfare eligibility
Welfare work participation
Withholding tax
Women

Summary:
action_date: 2005-06-13
text: 
Access to Affordable Health Care Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow: (1) tax credits to small businesses for qualified employee health insurance expenses; (2) tax credits for qualified health insurance; (3) deductions for long-term care premiums; and (4) tax credits for individuals with long-term care needs.
 
Requires the Secretary of Labor to award grants to states to assist in planning, developing, and operating qualified small employer purchasing groups for health insurance.
 
Directs the Small Business Administration to award grants to states, local governments, and nonprofit organizations to provide health insurance information to small employers.
 
Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services (the Secretary) to award demonstration grants for states to demonstrate the effectiveness of innovative ways to increase access to health insurance.
 
Renames title XXI (State Children's Health Insurance) (SCHIP) of the Social Security Act the FamilyCare program and allows states to extend coverage to qualified children, parents, and pregnant women. Allows states to simplify the qualification and enrollment requirements.
 
Requires the Secretary to provide for improved outreach and enrollment in government programs for eligible children and homeless individuals and families.
 
Expresses the sense of the Senate that appropriations for consolidated health centers and the National Health Service Corps should be doubled over the next five fiscal years.
 
Requires the Secretary to: (1) award grants to states for the promotion of healthy lifestyles and for the establishment and operation of worksite wellness programs for small employers and their employees; (2) expand comprehensive school health education programs; and (3) establish demonstration projects related to providing low-cost, high-quality health care and attracting educators and clinical practitioners to underserved areas.
 
 
 
 
 
 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2005-06-13
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
action_date: 2005-06-13
text: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S6407-6409)
action_date: 2005-06-13
text: Introduced in Senate