[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 574 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
107th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 574
To amend titles XIX and XXI of the Social Security Act to allow States
to provide health benefits coverage for parents of children eligible
for child health assistance under the State children's health insurance
program.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
March 20, 2001
Mrs. Feinstein introduced the following bill; which was read twice and
referred to the Committee on Finance
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend titles XIX and XXI of the Social Security Act to allow States
to provide health benefits coverage for parents of children eligible
for child health assistance under the State children's health insurance
program.
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 ``Family Health Insurance Program Act
of 2001''.
SEC. 2. STATE OPTION TO PROVIDE HEALTH BENEFITS COVERAGE FOR PARENTS OF
CHILDREN ELIGIBLE FOR CHILD HEALTH ASSISTANCE UNDER THE
STATE CHILDREN'S HEALTH INSURANCE PROGRAM.
(a) In General.--Title XXI of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C.
1397aa et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following new
section:
``SEC. 2111. OPTIONAL COVERAGE OF PARENTS OF TARGETED LOW-INCOME
CHILDREN.
``(a) Optional Coverage.--
``(1) In general.--Notwithstanding any other provision of
this title, a State that meets the requirements of paragraph
(2) may provide for coverage, through an amendment to its State
child health plan under section 2102, of parent health
assistance for targeted low-income parents in accordance with
this section.
``(2) Requirements.--A State may not receive payment under
section 2105 for coverage provided under this subsection (or
payment under section 1903 for medical assistance provided to
parents described in section 1902(a)(10)(A)(ii)(XIV)) unless
the State provides assurances satisfactory to the Secretary
that--
``(A) targeted low-income parents in families with
higher income are only made eligible (under title XIX
or this title) if targeted low-income parents in
families with lower income are also eligible; and
``(B) parents are enrolled in the same program
(whether under this title or title XIX) as a child of
the parents.
``(b) Definitions.--In this section:
``(1) Parent health assistance.--The term `parent health
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
parents.
``(2) Targeted low-income parent.--The term `targeted low-
income parent' means an individual who--
``(A) is a parent of a targeted low-income child;
and
``(B) otherwise satisfies the requirements for a
child to be a targeted low-income child (as described
in section 2110(b)).
``(3) Parent.--The term `parent' means an individual who is
a caretaker relative of a child described in paragraph (2)(A).
Such term includes parents, stepparents with whom the child
resides, appointed guardians, grandparents, and other
relatives.
``(c) References to Terms and Special Rules.--In the case of, and
with respect to, a State providing for coverage of parent health
assistance to targeted low-income parents under subsection (a), the
following special rules apply:
``(1) Any reference in this title (other than in subsection
(b)) to a targeted low-income child is deemed to include a
reference to a targeted low-income parent.
``(2) Any such reference to child health assistance with
respect to such a parent is deemed a reference to parent health
assistance.
``(3) Any such reference to a child (other than in section
2104(b)) is deemed a reference to a parent of such child.
``(4) The medicaid applicable income level is the level
applicable to the child of that parent.
``(5) In applying section 2103(e)(3)(B) in the case of a
parent provided parent health assistance under this section,
the limitation on total annual aggregate cost-sharing shall be
applied to the entire family.
``(6) Section 2105(c)(3) shall be applied without regard to
subparagraph (A).
``(d) Rules of Construction.--Nothing in this section shall be
construed--
``(1) as affecting--
``(A) the total amount available for allotments
under section 2104(a); or
``(B) the amount of the allotment provided to a
State under subsection (b) or (c) of section 2104; or
``(2) as requiring a State to provide parent health
assistance to all targeted low-income parents.''.
(b) Medicaid Conforming Amendments.--
(1) Section 1902(a)(10)(A)(ii)(XIV) of the Social Security
Act (42 U.S.C. 1396a(a)(10)(A)(ii)(XIV)) is amended by
inserting ``or who are optional targeted low-income parents
described in section 1905(u)(2)(C), but only if the State
provides medical assistance for such optional targeted low-
income children'' before the semicolon.
(2) Section 1905(u)(2) of the Social Security Act (42
U.S.C. 1396d(u)(2)) is amended--
(A) in subparagraph (A), by inserting ``and for
optional targeted low-income parents described in
subparagraph (C)'' before the period; and
(B) by adding at the end the following new
subparagraph:
``(C) For purposes of this paragraph, the term ``optional targeted
low-income parent'' means an individual--
``(i) who is a parent of an optional targeted low-income
child;
``(ii) who otherwise satisfies the requirements for a child
to be a targeted low-income child (as described in section
2110(b) but determined without regard to that portion of
paragraph (1)(C) of such section concerning eligibility for
medical assistance under this title); and
``(iii) who are not otherwise eligible for medical
assistance under section 1902(a)(10)(A) or section 1931.''.
(c) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section apply to
parent health assistance and medical assistance furnished on or after
October 1, 2001.
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