[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2500 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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114th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 2500

    To provide for the establishment of a health insurance premium 
 reduction program to ensure that health insurance premiums remain low 
                         for American families.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            February 4, 2016

  Mr. Bennet introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
  referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
    To provide for the establishment of a health insurance premium 
 reduction program to ensure that health insurance premiums remain low 
                         for American families.

    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 ``Health Care Premium Reduction Act''.

SEC. 2. STATE HEALTH INSURANCE PREMIUM REDUCTION PROGRAM.

    Part 5 of subtitle D of title I of the Patient Protection and 
Affordable Care Act (42 U.S.C. 18061 et seq.) is amended by adding at 
the end the following:

``SEC. 1344. STATE HEALTH INSURANCE PREMIUM REDUCTION PROGRAM.

    ``(a) Grants.--The Secretary shall establish a program for awarding 
a grant to a State to enable such State to support, in connection with 
reducing health insurance premiums and providing affordable health 
benefits coverage that includes a risk-adjustment mechanism for the 
purpose of supporting the purchase of private health insurance by 
consumers in the State, and for ensuring stable health insurance 
premiums through the activities carried out under subsection (e).
    ``(b) Requirement.--To be eligible to receive a grant under this 
section a State shall--
            ``(1) submit to the Secretary an application at such time, 
        in such manner, and containing such information as the 
        Secretary shall require;
            ``(2) include in such application a description of the 
        State private health insurance market, including a list of 
        county-specific premium increase percentages that are 10 
        percent or greater, and an assurance that such State will 
        comply with the requirements of section 1101(c)(2); and
            ``(3) include in such application an assurance that the 
        State will expend all or a portion of the funds received under 
        the grant on the risk-adjustment mechanism for the State.
    ``(c) Priority Review.--
            ``(1) Evaluation.--The Secretary, in consultation with the 
        Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, shall conduct 
        an evaluation of all regions in the United States to assess 
        which regions (that may be comprised of collections of 
        geographic subdivisions such as Core-Based Statistical Areas, 
        census tracts, or ZIP Codes) have the highest premiums for 
        health insurance coverage.
            ``(2) Priority.--States identified under the evaluation 
        under paragraph (1) shall receive priority in obtaining grants 
        under this section in order to stabilize premium trends.
    ``(d) Use of Funds.--
            ``(1) Set-aside.--A State that receives a grant under this 
        section shall use grant funds to carry out the following:
                    ``(A) Activities to provide for a reduction in 
                health insurance premium trends and actual premiums 
                through programs such as State-specific cost-sharing 
                programs to reduce deductibles and out-of-pocket 
                expenses.
                    ``(B) Activities to increase the number of 
                individuals in the State that receive health insurance 
                coverage.
                    ``(C) A State-run premium rate review program to 
                determine unreasonable health insurance premium 
                increases and assist the State in facilitating an 
                effective program to reduce such rates in accordance 
                with section 2794 of the Public Health Service Act.
                    ``(D) Activities under section 1332 to allow for 
                greater State flexibility in addressing affordability, 
                quality, and accessibility of health insurance in the 
                States.
            ``(2) Bonus payments.--
                    ``(A) In general.--The Secretary, in consultation 
                with the Assistant Secretary for Planning and 
                Evaluation, shall conduct an evaluation of all regions 
                in the United States to assess which regions (that may 
                be comprised of collections of geographic subdivisions 
                such as Core-Based Statistical Areas, census tracts, or 
                ZIP Codes) have the highest premiums for health 
                insurance coverage. Such evaluation shall determine the 
                following:
                            ``(i) The number of individuals with access 
                        to health insurance coverage in each region.
                            ``(ii) The average premiums and out-of-
                        pocket expenses per person in each such region.
                            ``(iii) The amount of uncompensated health 
                        care provided by hospitals, clinics, and 
                        safety-net providers in each such region.
                            ``(iv) The extent to which a State has used 
                        tools to control and analyze health care costs 
                        through health care data collection.
                    ``(B) Use.--Amounts provided as a bonus payment 
                under this paragraph may be used by the State for 
                activities designed to reduce health insurance 
                premiums, or to keep such premiums from rising, for 
                consumers in the State, in coordination with the 
                Department of Health and Human Services. Such 
                activities may include the provision of direct 
                assistance to consumers in the form of tax credits to 
                reduce premiums.
    ``(e) Risk Mitigation and Risk Corridors.--
            ``(1) In general.--The Secretary shall distribute amounts 
        available for the risk mitigation and risk corridor program 
        under subsection (d) for calendar years 2016, 2017, and 2018.
            ``(2) Payments.--Payments shall be made under this 
        subsection in accordance with such section 1342.
            ``(3) Use of funds.--A State shall use amounts received 
        under this subsection for activities described in subsection 
        (d)(1).
    ``(f) Funding.--
            ``(1) In general.--The Secretary shall carry out this 
        section using amounts made available for the Department of 
        Health and Human Services and remaining unobligated.
            ``(2) No limitation on other assistance.--Nothing in this 
        section shall be construed as prohibiting the Secretary and the 
        Secretary of the Treasury from utilizing additional funds to 
        carry out this section or other programs to support the 
        subsidized, affordable purchase of private health insurance 
        coverage, notwithstanding the Consolidated and Further 
        Continuing Appropriations Act, 2015 (Public Law 113-235).''.
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