[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4278 Introduced in House (IH)]







105th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 4278

    To require the provision of health care benefits under Federal 
                      contracts and subcontracts.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 20, 1998

Mr. Gutierrez (for himself, Mr. Kucinich, and Mr. Hilliard) introduced 
 the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education 
   and the Workforce, and in addition to the Committee on Government 
Reform and Oversight, 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

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
    To require the provision of health care benefits under Federal 
                      contracts and subcontracts.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Health Benefits in Federal 
Contracting Act of 1998''.

SEC. 2. HEALTH BENEFITS STANDARDS.

    (a) Requirement.--
            (1) General rule.--Except as provided in paragraph (2), any 
        employer under a Federal contract for an amount exceeding 
        $10,000 or a subcontract under a Federal contract for such an 
        amount shall, except as provided in subsection (b), provide 
        each of the employer's employees working on or hired in 
        conjunction with such contract or subcontract health benefits 
        that meet the requirements of this section.
            (2) Exceptions.--
                    (A) Employers.--Paragraph (1) shall not apply to an 
                employer which is--
                            (i) a small business concern as defined 
                        under section 3 of the Small Business Act (15 
                        U.S.C. 632), or
                            (ii) a nonprofit organization exempt from 
                        Federal income tax under section 501(c) of the 
                        Internal Revenue Code of 1986 if the ratio of 
                        the total compensation of its chief executive 
                        officer to the compensation of the full-time 
                        equivalent of its lowest paid employee is not 
                        greater than 25 to 1.
                    (B) Employees.--The requirement of paragraph (1) 
                shall not apply to an employee who--
                            (i) is employed for less than 17-\1/2\ 
                        hours per week (on average) for the employer;
                            (ii) has health benefits coverage through 
                        other employment or through employment of the 
                        employee's spouse or parents; or
                            (iii) is participating in an apprenticeship 
                        program, or any other training program which 
                        does not exceed 6 months in duration and which 
                        is offered to an employee while employed in 
                        productive work that provides training, 
                        technical and other related skills, and 
                        personal skills that are essential to the full 
                        and adequate performance of the employee's 
                        employment.
            (3) Scope.--An employer may not avoid the requirement of 
        paragraph (1)--
                    (A) by laying off or otherwise terminating the 
                employment of an employee with the intention of 
                replacing such employee with an employee who, under 
                subsection (b), is not eligible for the health care 
                benefits required by paragraph (1); or
                    (B) by reducing the number of hours of employment 
                of an employee with the intention of making the 
                employee ineligible for such benefits.
            (4) Contract requirement.--Any contract between the Federal 
        Government and any contractor and any contract between such 
        contractor with a subcontractor to carry out work for the 
        Federal Government shall require the contractor or 
        subcontractor to provide the health benefits required by 
        paragraph (1).
    (b) Required Health Benefits.--The health benefits required under 
subsection (a) shall meet the following requirements:
            (1) Scope of benefits.--The scope of benefits shall be at 
        least actuarially equivalent to the benefits under the health 
        benefits plan offered under chapter 89 of title 5, United 
        States Code, with the largest national enrollment.
            (2) Employer contribution.--The employer contribution 
        towards such coverage--
                    (A) that only includes coverage for the employee, 
                shall be not less than the percentage contribution made 
                by the Federal Government under such chapter for 
                coverage described in paragraph (1) for non-family 
                coverage; and
                    (B) that includes coverage for family members, 
                shall be equal to the contribution described in 
                subparagraph (A) plus at least 50 percent of the 
                additional cost to obtain family coverage.
    (c) Enforcement.--
            (1) Termination.--If an employer does not provide the 
        health benefits required by subsection (a) the Federal contract 
        or subcontract under which such employer was employing 
        employees shall be terminated.
            (2) Ineligibility.--An employer described in paragraph (1) 
        shall not be eligible for any Federal contract or subcontract 
        for a period of 5 years beginning on the date the employer does 
        not provide the required health benefits.
            (3) Restitution.--An employer who does not provide the 
        health benefits required by subsection (a) shall be liable to 
        the United States in an amount equal to the unpaid benefits and 
        in addition an equal amount as liquidated damages. The 
        Secretary of Labor shall pay to the employees who were not 
        provided such benefits the amount recovered by the United 
        States under this paragraph.

SEC. 3. EFFECTIVE DATE.

    This Act shall take effect with respect to Federal contracts 
entered into, renewed, or extended after 90 days after the date of 
enactment of this Act.
                                 <all>