[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1843 Introduced in House (IH)]







106th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1843

 To amend title XXI of the Social Security Act to permit States to use 
funds under the State Children's Health Insurance Program for coverage 
          of uninsured pregnant women, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 18, 1999

 Mr. Hyde (for himself and Mrs. Lowey) introduced the following bill; 
            which was referred to the Committee on Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend title XXI of the Social Security Act to permit States to use 
funds under the State Children's Health Insurance Program for coverage 
          of uninsured pregnant women, and for other purposes.

    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 ``Mothers and Newborns Health 
Insurance Act of 1999''.

SEC. 2. OPTIONAL COVERAGE OF LOW-INCOME, UNINSURED PREGNANT WOMEN UNDER 
              A STATE CHILD HEALTH PLAN.

    (a) In General.--Title XXI of the Social Security Act is amended by 
adding at the end the following new section:

``SEC. 2111. OPTIONAL COVERAGE OF LOW-INCOME, UNINSURED PREGNANT WOMEN.

    ``(a) Optional coverage.--Notwithstanding any other provision of 
this title, a State child health plan may provide for coverage of 
pregnancy-related assistance for targeted low-income pregnant women in 
accordance with this section.
    ``(b) Definitions.--For purposes of this section:
            ``(1) Pregnancy-related assistance.--The term `pregnancy-
        related assistance' has the meaning given the term child health 
        assistance in section 2110(a) as if any reference to targeted 
        low-income children were a reference to targeted low-income 
        pregnant women, except that the assistance shall be limited to 
        services related to pregnancy (which include prenatal, 
        delivery, and postpartum services) and to other conditions that 
        may complicate pregnancy and shall not include prepregnancy 
        services and supplies.
            ``(2) Targeted low-income pregnant woman.--The term 
        `targeted low-income pregnant woman' has the meaning given the 
        term targeted low-income child in section 2110(b) as if any 
        reference to a child were deemed a reference to a woman during 
        pregnancy and through the end of the month in which the 60-day 
        period (beginning on the last day of her pregnancy) ends.
    ``(c) References to Terms and Special Rules.--In the case of, and 
with respect to, a State providing for coverage of pregnancy-related 
assistance to targeted low-income pregnant women under subsection (a), 
the following special rules apply:
            ``(1) Any reference in this title (other than subsection 
        (b)) to a targeted low income child is deemed to include a 
        reference to a targeted low-income pregnant woman.
            ``(2) Any such reference to child health assistance with 
        respect to such women is deemed a reference to pregnancy-
        related assistance.
            ``(3) Any such reference to a child is deemed a reference 
        to a woman during pregnancy and the period described in 
        subsection (b)(2).
            ``(4) The medicaid applicable income level is deemed a 
        reference to the income level established under section 
        1902(l)(2)(A).
            ``(5) Subsection (a) of section 2103 (relating to required 
        scope of health insurance coverage) shall not apply insofar as 
        a State limits coverage to services described in subsection 
        (b)(1) and the reference to such section in section 2105(a)(1) 
        is deemed not to require, in such case, compliance with the 
        requirements of section 2103(a).
            ``(6) There shall be no exclusion of benefits for services 
        described in subsection (b)(1) based on any pre-existing 
        condition and no waiting period (including a waiting period to 
        carry out section 2102(b)(3)(C)) shall apply.
    ``(d) No Impact on Allotments.--Nothing in this section shall be 
construed as affecting the amount of any initial allotment provided to 
a State under section 2104(b).
    ``(e) Application of Funding Restrictions.--The coverage under this 
section (and the funding of such coverage) is subject to the 
restrictions of section 2105(c).''.
    (b) Conforming Amendment.--Section 2102(b)(1)(B) of such Act (42 
U.S.C. 1397bb(b)(1)(B)) is amended--
            (1) by striking ``and'' at the end of clause (i);
            (2) by striking the period at the end of clause (ii) and 
        inserting ``; and''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following new clause:
                            ``(iii) may not apply a waiting period 
                        (including a waiting period to carry out 
                        paragraph (3)(C)) in the case of a targeted 
                        low-income child who is pregnant.''.
    (c) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section take 
effect on the date of the enactment of this Act and apply to allotments 
for all fiscal years.

SEC. 3. OPTIONAL AUTOMATIC ENROLLMENT FOR CHILDREN BORN TO WOMEN 
              RECEIVING PREGNANCY-RELATED ASSISTANCE.

    (a) In General.--Section 2111 of the Social Security Act, as added 
by section 2(a), is further amended by adding at the end the following 
new section:
    ``(f) Optional Automatic Enrollment for Children Born to Women 
Receiving Pregnancy-Related Assistance.--Notwithstanding any other 
provision of this title, if a child is born to a targeted low-income 
pregnant woman who was receiving pregnancy-related assistance under 
this section on the date of the child's birth, at the State's option 
under the child health plan the child may be deemed--
            ``(1) to have applied for child health assistance under the 
        State child health plan on the date of such birth;
            ``(2) to have been found eligible for such assistance on 
        such date; and
            ``(3) to remain eligible for such assistance until the 
        child attains 1 year of age, so long as the child is a member 
        of the woman's household and the woman remains (or would remain 
        if pregnant) eligible for such assistance.''.
    (b) Effective Date.--The amendment made by subsection (a) takes 
effect on the date of the enactment of this Act and applies to 
allotments for all fiscal years.
                                 <all>