[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2383 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

113th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 2383

   To direct the Office of the Actuary of the Centers for Medicare & 
 Medicaid Services and the Comptroller General of the United States to 
 study the impact of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act on 
                           small businesses.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              May 22, 2014

 Mr. Alexander introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
                  referred to the Committee on Finance

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To direct the Office of the Actuary of the Centers for Medicare & 
 Medicaid Services and the Comptroller General of the United States to 
 study the impact of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act on 
                           small businesses.

    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 ``Certify It Act of 2014''.

SEC. 2. STUDY ON IMPACT ON SMALL BUSINESS JOBS.

    (a) Study and Report.--
            (1) In general.--Not later than 1 year after the date of 
        enactment of this Act, and December 1 for each of the 4 
        consecutive years thereafter, the Comptroller General of the 
        United States, shall conduct a study on the impact of the 
        Affordable Care Act on small businesses, including--
                    (A) the impact of any increased health insurance 
                costs resulting from the provisions of such Act on 
                economic indicators (including jobs lost, hours worked 
                per employee, and any resulting loss of wages); and
                    (B) the impact of section 4980H of the Internal 
                Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to shared responsibility 
                for employers regarding health coverage) on economic 
                indicators, including any jobs lost.
            (2) Report.--The Comptroller General of the United States, 
        using data from the Office of the Actuary, Centers for Medicare 
        & Medicaid Services, under section 3 and economic indicators 
        data from other Federal agencies, shall submit to the 
        appropriate committees of Congress a report on the study 
        conducted under paragraph (1).
    (b) Appropriate Committees of Congress.--For purposes of this 
section, the term ``appropriate committees of Congress'' means the 
Committee on Ways and Means, the Committee on Education and the 
Workforce, the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and the Small Business 
Committee of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Finance, 
the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, and the Small 
Business and Entrepreneurship Committee of the Senate.
    (c) Definitions.--For purposes of this Act:
            (1) Affordable care act.--The term ``Affordable Care Act'' 
        means the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Public 
        Law 111-148) and title I and subtitle B of title II of the 
        Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 (Public 
        Law 111-152).
            (2) Small business.--The term ``small business'' means an 
        employer with 250 or fewer employees.

SEC. 3. STUDY ON IMPACT ON SMALL BUSINESS HEALTH INSURANCE.

    (a) Study and Report.--
            (1) In general.--Not later than 1 year after the date of 
        the enactment of this Act, and December 1 for each of the 4 
        consecutive years thereafter, the Office of the Actuary, 
        Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, shall conduct a study 
        on the impact of the Affordable Care Act on small group health 
        insurance costs, including--
                    (A) the impact of requirements and benefits 
                pursuant to such Act on the small group health 
                insurance market, including community rating 
                requirements, minimum actuarial value requirements, 
                requirements to provide for essential health benefits 
                described in section 1302(b) of the Patient Protection 
                and Affordable Care Act (42 U.S.C. 18022(b)), 
                requirements related to cost-sharing, the prohibition 
                on annual and lifetime limits on benefits under section 
                2711 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 300gg-
                11), prohibitions on cost-sharing requirements for 
                preventive services, and the extension of dependent 
                coverage under section 2714 of the Public Health 
                Service Act (42 U.S.C. 300gg-14); and
                    (B) the impact of new taxes and fees on the small 
                group health insurance market costs, including the fee 
                imposed under section 9010 of the Patient Protection 
                and Affordable Care Act (relating to imposition of 
                annual fee on health insurance providers), the 
                transitional reinsurance program contributions, the 
                fees imposed under subchapter B of chapter 34 of the 
                Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to the Patient 
                Centered Outcome Research Institute fees), and Exchange 
                assessments or user fees.
            (2) Report.--The Office of the Actuary, Centers for 
        Medicare & Medicaid Services, in consultation with the 
        Comptroller General for purposes of verifying the methodology, 
        assumptions, validity, and reasonableness of the data used by 
        the Actuary, shall submit to the appropriate committees of 
        Congress a report on the study conducted under paragraph (1).
    (b) Appropriate Committees of Congress.--For purposes of this 
section, the term ``appropriate committees of Congress'' means the 
Committee on Ways and Means, the Committee on Education and the 
Workforce, the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and the Small Business 
Committee of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Finance, 
the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, and the Small 
Business and Entrepreneurship Committee of the Senate.

SEC. 4. ONE-YEAR DELAY FOR EMPLOYER MANDATE IN CASE OF NEGATIVE IMPACT 
              ON SMALL BUSINESS.

    (a) In General.--If the Comptroller General of the United States or 
the Office of the Actuary, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, 
determines in any report submitted under section 2 or 3 that the 
Affordable Care Act has caused net employment loss amongst small 
businesses or caused small group health insurance costs to rise, 
section 4980H of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 shall not apply for 
months beginning during the 1-year period beginning on the date of the 
submission of such report.
    (b) Failure To Submit.--If the Comptroller General of the United 
States or the Office of the Actuary, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid 
Services, fails to submit a report in accordance with the timelines 
specified in this Act, section 4980H of the Internal Revenue Code of 
1986 shall not apply the following calendar year.
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