[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3813 Introduced in Senate (IS)]








109th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 3813

To permit individuals who are employees of a grantee that is receiving 
 funds under section 330 of the Public Health Service Act to enroll in 
 health insurance coverage provided under the Federal Employees Health 
                           Benefits Program.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             August 3, 2006

Mr. Smith (for himself, Mr. Bingaman, and Ms. Murkowski) introduced the 
 following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 
               Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To permit individuals who are employees of a grantee that is receiving 
 funds under section 330 of the Public Health Service Act to enroll in 
 health insurance coverage provided under the Federal Employees Health 
                           Benefits 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 ``Community Health Center Employee 
Health Coverage Act of 2006''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) Federally Qualified Health Centers (referred to in this 
        section as ``FQHCs'') are required under section 330 of the 
        Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 254b) to be located in, 
        and serve, a community that is designated as ``medically 
        underserved''.
            (2) FQHCs are required under such section 330 to make its 
        services available to all residents of the community, without 
        regard to ability to pay, and to make those services affordable 
        by discounting charges for otherwise uncovered care to low-
        income families in accordance with family income.
            (3) FQHCs are required under such section 330 to provide 
        comprehensive primary health care services, including 
        preventive care, care for illness or injury, services which 
        improve the accessibility of care, and the effectiveness of 
        care.
            (4) FQHCs are required under such section 330 to be 
        governed by a board of directors, a majority of whose members 
        are active, registered patients of the health center, thus 
        ensuring that the center is responsive to the health care needs 
        of the community it serves.
            (5) FQHCs delivered comprehensive primary and preventive 
        care to more than 15,000,000 people in 2004, more than 
        6,000,000 of whom had no health insurance coverage.
            (6) FQHCs employ nearly 100,000 people across the United 
        States.
            (7) FQHCs are being challenged by increasing financial 
        pressures that jeopardize their ability to provide health 
        services to medically underserved populations, including the 
        elderly, the uninsured, and lower-income individuals.
            (8) Health insurance costs in the small employer market 
        have risen more than 30 percent in the past 2 years, forcing 
        many FQHCs to use additional Federal funding to continue to 
        provide health insurance coverage for their employees.
            (9) The Federal Government negotiates premiums with health 
        insurance companies for millions of Federal employees, thereby 
        ensuring the best possible rates under the Federal Employee 
        Health Benefit Program (referred to in this section as 
        ``FEHBP'').
            (10) Last year FEHBP premiums increased 7.5 percent, far 
        less than that of even large employers.
            (11) FQHCs receive Federal grants from the Health Resource 
        and Services Administration that help cover the cost of 
        providing high quality, affordable health care for everyone in 
        their communities, including the uninsured.
            (12) FQHCs use a portion of their Federal grant to cover 
        the cost of health insurance for their employees.
            (13) As health insurance premiums rise, FQHCs may be forced 
        to reduce health insurance coverage for their own employees, or 
        reduce the availability of care in their communities.
            (14) Last year, almost 1,400,000 Americans joined the ranks 
        of the uninsured--bringing our Nation's total to more than 
        45,000,000 people without health insurance, while another 
        30,000,000 or more are underinsured.
            (15) The uninsured are in significantly worse health than 
        those with health insurance, receive fewer preventive services, 
        are less likely to receive regular care for chronic diseases, 
        and are more likely to be hospitalized for a condition that 
        could have been treated more effectively with timely access to 
        ambulatory care.
            (16) Adding FQHC employees to the list of those covered 
        under the FEHBP would help control rising health insurance 
        costs, reduce the cost of providing health insurance to their 
        employees, and enable centers to use scarce funds to continue 
        providing care in their communities.

SEC. 3. ADDITION OF HEALTH CENTER EMPLOYEES TO FEHBP.

    (a) Definitions.--Section 8901(l) of title 5, United States Code, 
is amended--
            (1) in subparagraph (H), by striking ``and'' at the end;
            (2) in subparagraph (I), by striking the period and 
        inserting ``; and''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following:
                    ``(J) an individual who is an employee of a 
                federally qualified health center (as defined in 
                section 1905(l)(2)(B) of the Social Security Act (42 
                U.S.C. 1396d(l)(2)(B))) that has elected to offer 
                coverage under this chapter or who is an employee of a 
                grantee that is receiving funds under section 330(l) of 
                the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 254b(l)) that 
                has elected to offer coverage under this chapter.''.
    (b) Employees Health Benefits Fund.--Section 8909 of title 5, 
United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(h) An individual who is an employee of a federally qualified 
health center (as defined in section 1905(l)(2)(B) of the Social 
Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1396d(l)(2)(B))) who has elected coverage under 
this chapter or who is an employee of a grantee that is receiving funds 
under section 330(l) of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 
254b(l)) who has elected coverage under this chapter shall be required 
to pay currently into the Employees Health Benefits Fund, under 
arrangements satisfactory to the Office, an amount equal to the sum 
of--
            ``(1) the employee and agency contributions which would be 
        required in the case of an employee enrolled in the same health 
        benefits plan and level of benefits; and
            ``(2) an amount, determined under regulations prescribed by 
        the Office, necessary for administrative expenses, but not to 
        exceed 2 percent of the total amount under clause (i).''.
                                 <all>