Relief from Obamacare Mandate Act of 2016

Bill: 114-s-3251
Sponsor: full_name: Sen. Cotton, Tom [R-AR]
Introduced: 2016-07-14
Policy area: Taxation
Latest action: action_date: 2016-07-14
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.

Summaries:
action_date: 2016-07-14
action_desc: Introduced in Senate
text: <p><b>Relief from Obamacare Mandate Act of 2016 </b></p> <p>This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code (IRC) to exempt individuals with certain premium increases from the requirement under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) to maintain minimum essential health coverage. </p> <p>The exemption applies to any individual for any month during a year that the individual resides in a state in which the average premium for self-only or family coverage under the second lowest cost silver plans within the state has increased by more than 10% from the prior year. </p> <p>The bill also requires the cost of annual deductibles to be taken into account in applying the exemption for individuals who cannot afford coverage. </p> <p>The bill repeals provisions added to the IRC by PPACA that: (1) restrict payments from health savings accounts (HSAs), Archer medical savings accounts (MSAs), and health flexible spending and reimbursement arrangements for medications to prescription drugs and insulin only (thus allowing payments for over-the-counter medications); (2) impose a $2,500 limitation on salary reduction contributions to a health flexible spending arrangement under a cafeteria plan; and (3) impose an additional tax on HSA and Archer MSA distributions not used for qualified medical expenses. </p>

tv_txt: II 114th CONGRESS 2d Session S. 3251 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES July 14, 2016 Mr. Cotton (for himself, Ms. Ayotte , Mr. McCain , Mr. Lankford , Mr. Johnson , and Mr. Burr ) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance A BILL To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide an exemption to the individual mandate to maintain health coverage for certain individuals whose premium has increased by more than 10 percent, and for other purposes.

1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Relief from Obamacare Mandate Act of 2016 . 2. Modifications to exemption to requirement to maintain health coverage (a) Exemption for Individuals with excessive premium increases Section 5000A(e) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by adding at the end the following new paragraph: (6) Individuals with excessive premium increases Any applicable individual for any month during a calendar year if such applicable individual resides in a State in which either— (A) the average premium for self-only coverage for the second lowest cost silver plan within the State for such calendar year is more than 10 percent greater than the average premium for self-only coverage for the second lowest cost silver plan within the State for the preceding calendar year, or (B) the average premium for family coverage for the second lowest cost silver plan within the State for such calendar year is more than 10 percent greater than the average premium for family coverage for the second lowest cost silver plan within the State for the preceding calendar year. . (b) Modification of rules for determining affordability Section 5000A(e)(1)(B)(ii) is amended— (1) by inserting the sum of before the annual premium for the lowest cost bronze plan , and (2) by inserting and the maximum annual deductible for such plan after through the Exchange) . (c) Effective date The amendments made by this section shall apply to months beginning after the date of the enactment of this Act. 3. Repeal of distributions for medicine qualified only if for prescribed drug or insulin (a) HSAs Subparagraph (A) of section 223(d)(2) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by striking the last sentence. (b) Archer MSAs Subparagraph (A) of section 220(d)(2) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by striking the last sentence. (c) Health flexible spending arrangements and health reimbursement arrangements Section 106 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by striking subsection (f). (d) Effective dates (1) Distributions from savings accounts The amendments made by subsections (a) and (b) shall apply to amounts paid with respect to taxable years beginning after December 31, 2015. (2) Reimbursements The amendment made by subsection (c) shall apply to expenses incurred with respect to taxable years beginning after December 31, 2016. 4. Repeal of limitation on health flexible spending arrangements under cafeteria plans (a) In general Section 125 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended— (1) by striking subsection (i), and (2) by redesignating subsections (j), (k), and (l) as subsections (i), (j), and (k), respectively. (b) Effective date The amendments made by this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after December 31, 2016. 5. Repeal of tax on health savings accounts (a) HSAs Section 223(f)(4)(A) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by striking 20 percent and inserting 10 percent . (b) Archer MSAs Section 220(f)(4)(A) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by striking 20 percent and inserting 15 percent . (c) Effective date The amendments made by this section shall apply to distributions made after December 31, 2016.