[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5279 Introduced in House (IH)]

111th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 5279

   To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide for active 
  qualified public safety employees to elect to be covered under the 
            hospital insurance tax, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 12, 2010

 Mr. Gene Green of Texas (for himself and Mr. Doggett) introduced the 
 following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide for active 
  qualified public safety employees to elect to be covered under the 
            hospital insurance tax, 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 ``Public Safety Access to Medicare Act 
of 2010''.

SEC. 2. ELECTION BY ACTIVE QUALIFIED PUBLIC SAFETY EMPLOYEES TO BE 
              COVERED UNDER THE HOSPITAL INSURANCE TAX; PAYMENT FOR 
              RETROACTIVE QUARTERS OF COVERAGE.

    (a) Election of HI Tax Coverage.--Paragraph (2) of section 3121(u) 
of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to application of 
hospital insurance tax to Federal, State, and local employment) is 
amended by adding at the end the following new subparagraph:
                    ``(E) Election of coverage by public safety 
                employees.--At the election of a qualified public 
                safety employee (as defined in section 72(t)(10)(B)), 
                subparagraph (C) shall not apply to services performed 
                (after the effective date of such election) for an 
                employer by such employee if such services would not 
                (but for an election under this clause) be treated as 
                employment by reason of subparagraph (C). An election 
                under this subparagraph, once made, shall be 
                irrevocable.''.
    (b) Payment of Employee Share of Taxes To Get Credit for Previous 
Uncovered Coverage Quarters.--
            (1) In general.--A qualified public safety employee who 
        makes the election under 3121(u)(2)(E) of the Internal Revenue 
        Code of 1986, as added by subsection (a), may further elect to 
        make a payment (in the amount described in paragraph (3)) for 
        services performed as such an employee over a continuous period 
        (specified by such employee) immediately preceding the 
        effective date of such election. An election under this 
        paragraph, once made, shall be irrevocable.
            (2) Evidence of employment.--An election under paragraph 
        (1) shall not be valid until the qualified public safety 
        employee submits such evidence of services performed as the 
        Secretary of the Treasury (in consultation with the 
        Commissioner of Social Security) may require.
            (3) Payment.--
                    (A) Amount of payment.--The amount of a payment 
                under paragraph (1) for services described in paragraph 
                (1) is the amount equal to the tax which would (but for 
                section 3121(u)(2)(C)) of the Internal Revenue Code of 
                1986) have been imposed by section 3101(b) of such Code 
                on wages received for such services.
                    (B) Deposit in treasury and transfer to trust 
                fund.--Any payment received under paragraph (1) shall 
                be deposited in the Treasury of the United States as 
                miscellaneous receipts, and an amount equal to such 
                payment is hereby appropriated to the Federal Hospital 
                Insurance Trust Fund out of any moneys in the Treasury 
                not otherwise appropriated.
            (4) Payments taken into account in determining quarters of 
        coverage for medicare eligibility.--Services for which payment 
        is made under paragraph (1) shall be taken into account in 
        applying sections 226(a)(2)(C)(i), 226(b)(2)(C)(ii)(I), and 
        226A(a)(1)(B)(iii) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 
        426(a)(2)(C)(i), 426(b)(2)(C)(ii)(I), 426-1(a)(1)(B)(iii)) as 
        if such services constituted medicare qualified government 
        employment (as defined in section 210(p) of such Act).
            (5) Definitions.--For purposes of this subsection, the term 
        ``qualified public safety employee'' has the meaning given such 
        term in section 72(t)(10)(B) of the Internal Revenue Code of 
        1986.
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