Protecting Americans with Pre-existing Conditions Act of 2019

Bill: 116-s-466
Sponsor: full_name: Sen. Warner, Mark R. [D-VA]
Introduced: 2019-02-13
Policy area: Health
Subjects: Administrative law and regulatory procedures

Department of Health and Human Services

Department of the Treasury

Health care costs and insurance

Health care coverage and access

State and local government operations
Latest action: action_date: 2019-02-13
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.

Summaries:
action_date: 2019-02-13
action_desc: Introduced in Senate
text: <p><b>Protecting Americans with Pre-existing Conditions Act of 2019</b></p> <p>This bill nullifies the Department of the Treasury and the Department of Health and Human Services guidance titled &quot;State Relief and Empowerment Waivers,&quot; published on October 24, 2018. The guidance pertains to Section 1332 waivers (also known as State Innovation Waivers or State Relief and Empowerment Waivers), which allow states to forego certain requirements of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act in order to implement experimental plans for health care coverage, as long as the resulting coverage meets certain statutory criteria. </p> <p>The guidance, which supersedes earlier guidance from 2015, alters agency interpretation of how states may satisfy the statutory criteria for waiver approval. For example, the guidance (1) redefines acceptable coverage under such waivers to include short-term, limited-duration insurance and association health plans; (2) allows the comprehensiveness and affordability of coverage under such waivers to be assessed based on projected availability, rather than enrollment; and (3) allows the level of coverage to be assessed based on the effects over the entire course of the waiver, rather than per year.</p>

tv_txt: II 116th CONGRESS 1st Session S. 466 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES February 13, 2019 Mr. Warner (for himself, Mr. Cardin , Mrs. Shaheen , and Ms. Baldwin ) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance A BILL To provide that certain guidance related to waivers for State innovation under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act shall have no force or effect.

1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Protecting Americans with Pre-existing Conditions Act of 2019 . 2. Providing that certain guidance related to waivers for State innovation under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act shall have no force or effect Beginning April 1, 2019, the Secretary of Health and Human Services and the Secretary of the Treasury may not take any action to implement, enforce, or otherwise give effect to the guidance entitled State Relief and Empowerment Waivers (83 Fed. Reg. 53575 (October 24, 2018)), and the Secretaries may not promulgate any substantially similar guidance or rule.