3.0.0 2163 2023-01-15T10:47:53Z 2023-01-15T10:47:53Z Senate S S 2004-03-04 108 ssfi00 Finance Committee Senate Standing Referred to 2004-03-04T17:37:06Z Small Employers Health Benefits Program Act of 2004 108 4498 HR 2004-06-25 Referred to the Subcommittee on Employer-Employee Relations. Related bill CRS 2004-03-29 Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S3278-3279) IntroReferral B00100 9 Library of Congress 2004-03-04 ssfi00 Finance Committee Senate Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance. IntroReferral 2004-03-04 Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S2224-2225) IntroReferral B00100 9 Library of Congress 2004-03-04 Introduced in Senate IntroReferral 10000 9 Library of Congress D000563 Sen. Durbin, Richard J. [D-IL] Richard Durbin D IL J. N L000035 Sen. Lincoln, Blanche L. [D-AR] BLANCHE LINCOLN D AR LAMBERT 2004-03-04 True C000174 Sen. Carper, Thomas R. [D-DE] Thomas Carper D DE R. 2004-03-04 True P000590 Sen. Pryor, Mark L. [D-AR] Mark Pryor D AR Lunsford 2004-03-04 True C001042 Sen. Corzine, Jon S. [D-NJ] JON CORZINE D NJ S. 2004-05-18 False C000127 Sen. Cantwell, Maria [D-WA] Maria Cantwell D WA 2004-09-28 False L000123 Sen. Lautenberg, Frank R. [D-NJ] FRANK LAUTENBERG D NJ R. 2004-11-18 False Health Administrative procedure Catastrophic health insurance Civil Rights and Liberties, Minority Issues Commerce Competitive bidding Congress Congressional reporting requirements Cost accounting Discrimination in insurance Discrimination in medical care Economics and Public Finance Electronic government information Employee health benefits Federal employees Federal preemption Finance and Financial Sector Government Operations and Politics Government contractors Government employees' health insurance Government paperwork Government publicity Health insurance Health insurance continuation Income tax Indexing (Economic policy) Insurance premiums Internet Labor and Employment Law Medical economics Medically uninsured Medicare Nonprofit organizations Office of Personnel Management Rebates Reinsurance Science, Technology, Communications Self-employed Small business Social Welfare Subsidies Tax credits Tax refunds Taxation Health 00 2004-03-04 Introduced in Senate 2004-07-13T17:36:37Z Small Employers Health Benefits Program Act of 2004 - Directs the Office of Personnel Management to administer a separate health insurance program for non-Federal employees who are either self-employed or employees of a small business with fewer than 100 employees.

Allows the Office to contract with carriers to provide health insurance under this Act. Requires rates charged to reasonably and equitably reflect the costs of the benefits provided. Permits rates and premiums to vary based on age but not on health status factors.

Permits the Office to reimburse a carrier for costs that exceed premiums received by a specified percentage. Requires a carrier to make payments to a contingency reserve fund established by the Office if the carrier's costs are lower than expected by a specified percentage. Allows the Office to use such funds to provide assistance to carriers that experience unanticipated financial hardships.

Requires the Office to establish a reinsurance fund to provide payments to carriers that experience a catastrophic claim (a claim over $50,000) for benefits provided to an individual enrolled under this Act.

Authorizes the Office to contract with entities to administer this health program regionally.

Allows certain benefits to be offered to Medicare beneficiaries.

Requires the Office to implement a public education campaign regarding this health insurance program.

Allows a refundable tax credit for health insurance expenses of small employers who pay a specific percentage of employee expenses under such a health plan.

]]> Small Employers Health Benefits Program Act of 2004 Display Title Small Employers Health Benefits Program Act of 2004 Official Title as Introduced A bill to establish a national health program administered by the Office of Personnel Management to offer health benefits plans to individuals who are not Federal employees, and for other purposes. Introduced in Senate IS Short Titles as Introduced Small Employers Health Benefits Program Act of 2004 Introduced in Senate 2004-03-04T05:00:00Z 2004-03-29 Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S3278-3279) text/xml EN Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain. Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress This file contains bill summaries and statuses for federal legislation. A bill summary describes the most significant provisions of a piece of legislation and details the effects the legislative text may have on current law and federal programs. Bill summaries are authored by the Congressional Research Service (CRS) of the Library of Congress. As stated in Public Law 91-510 (2 USC 166 (d)(6)), one of the duties of CRS is "to prepare summaries and digests of bills and resolutions of a public general nature introduced in the Senate or House of Representatives". For more information, refer to the User Guide that accompanies this file.