[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 111 (Tuesday, September 19, 2000)]
[House]
[Pages H7760-H7762]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
FEDERAL EMPLOYEES HEALTH BENEFITS--CHILDREN'S EQUITY ACT OF 2000
Mrs. MORELLA. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the
bill (H.R. 2842) to amend chapter 89 of title 5, United States Code,
concerning the Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB) Program, to
enable the Federal Government to enroll an employee and his or her
family in the FEHB Program when a State court orders the employee to
provide health insurance coverage for a child of the employee but the
employee fails to provide the coverage, as amended.
The Clerk read as follows:
H.R. 2842
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 ``Federal Employees Health
Benefits Children's Equity Act of 2000''.
SEC. 2. HEALTH INSURANCE COVERAGE FOR CHILDREN.
Section 8905 of title 5, United States Code, is amended by
adding at the end the following:
``(h)(1) An unenrolled employee who is required by a court
or administrative order to provide health insurance coverage
for a child who meets the requirements of section 8901(5) may
enroll for self and family coverage in a health benefits plan
under this chapter. If such employee fails to enroll for self
and family coverage in a health benefits plan that provides
full benefits and services in the location in which the child
resides, and the employee does not provide documentation
showing that such coverage has been provided through other
health insurance, the employing agency shall enroll the
employee in a self and family enrollment in the option which
provides the lower level of coverage under the Service
Benefit Plan.
``(2) An employee who is enrolled as an individual in a
health benefits plan under this chapter and who is required
by a court or administrative order to provide health
insurance coverage for a child who meets the requirements of
section 8901(5) may change to a self and family enrollment in
the same or another health benefits plan under this chapter.
If such employee fails to change to a self and family
enrollment and the employee does not provide documentation
showing that such coverage has been provided through other
health insurance, the employing agency shall change the
enrollment of the employee to a self and family enrollment in
the plan in which the employee is enrolled if that plan
provides full benefits and services in the location where the
child resides. If the plan in which the employee is enrolled
does not provide full benefits and services in the location
in which the child resides, or, if the employee fails to
change to a self and family enrollment in a plan that
provides full benefits and services in the location where the
child resides, the employing agency shall change the coverage
of the employee to a self and family enrollment in the option
which provides the lower level of coverage under the Service
Benefits Plan.
``(3) The employee may not discontinue the self and family
enrollment in a plan that provides full benefits and services
in the location in which the child resides for so long as the
court or administrative order remains in effect and the child
continues to meet the requirements of section 8901(5), unless
the employee provides documentation showing that such
coverage has been provided through other health insurance.''.
[[Page H7761]]
SEC. 3. ANNUITY SUPPLEMENT.
(a) In General.--Section 8421a(b) of title 5, United States
Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:
``(5) Notwithstanding paragraphs (1) through (4), the
reduction required by subsection (a) shall be effective with
respect to the annuity supplement payable for each month in
the 12-month period beginning on the first day of the seventh
month after the end of the calendar year in which the excess
earnings were earned.''.
(b) Effective Date.--The amendment made by subsection (a)
shall apply with respect to reductions required to be made in
calendar years beginning after the date of enactment of this
Act.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentlewoman from
Maryland (Mrs. Morella) and the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Cummings)
each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from Maryland (Mrs. Morella).
General Leave
Mrs. MORELLA. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members
may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their
remarks on H.R. 2842.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentlewoman from Maryland?
There was no objection.
Mrs. MORELLA. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, this bill accomplishes two objectives. First, it
protects children who are entitled to health insurance under a court
order. Second, the bill changes the timing of certain adjustments to
annunities to allow OPM, that is the Office of Personnel Management, to
make more accurate calculations.
Federal agencies currently cannot guarantee that a Federal employee's
child is covered in accordance with a court or administrative order.
Ironically, Mr. Speaker, Federal law already requires that protection
for children whose parents work for an employer other than the Federal
Government. Current law provides that Federal employees may enroll in
an FEHBP plan, that is the Federal Employee Health Benefit Plan, either
as an individual or for self and family coverage. They are under no
obligation to do so however.
This important legislation will enable the Federal Government to
enroll an employee in a self and family plan in the Federal Employees
Health Benefits Program when a State court orders the employee to
provide health insurance coverage for a child of the employee but the
employee fails to provide the coverage.
In addition, Mr. Speaker, this bill delays adjustments to annunity
supplementals received by certain FERS retirees. No one will be denied
a benefit as a result of this delay, but the additional time will
permit OPM to calculate these annunity supplements more accurately and
ensure that the correct level of benefits is being paid.
Mr. Speaker, I am very proud to be an original cosponsor of this
bill, it was introduced by the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Cummings).
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. CUMMINGS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I and the children who will receive health care under
this bill, thank the gentleman from Indiana (Chairman Burton) and the
gentleman from California (Mr. Waxman); the ranking member, the
gentleman from Florida (Mr. Scarborough); and also we extend our
appreciation to the members of our Subcommittee on Civil Service, the
gentlewoman from the District of Columbia (Ms. Norton), the gentlewoman
from Maryland (Mrs. Morella), the gentleman from Maine (Mr. Allen), who
have affirmed their commitment to children by cosponsoring this
legislation.
H.R. 2842 also enjoys the support of Senator Levin who introduced the
companion Senate bill, S. 1688, in the Senate.
According to the 1990 United States Census, 78 percent of
noncustodial parents had health coverage available through their
employers, but only 23 percent had their children covered voluntarily.
The legal right to health care was denied to children by absentee
parents, even though they had the option to include them in their
medical insurance plan for little or no cost.
The Department of Agriculture estimates that in 1998, over 10 million
children had no health care coverage. H.R. 2842 will allow the Federal
agencies to join States and provide health insurance for children of
its employees.
The Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993 required States to
enact legislation requiring employers to enroll a child in an
employee's group health plan when a court orders the employee to
provide health insurance for the child but the employee fails to do so.
The Federal Employee Health Benefits Program law provided that a
Federal employee may enroll in a FEHB Plan. The law does not allow an
employing agency to elect coverage on the employee's behalf.
Further, FEHB law generally preempts State law with regards to
coverage and benefits; therefore, a Federal agency is unable to ensure
that a child is covered in accordance with a court order.
To correct this inequity, H.R. 2842, would enable the Federal
Government to enroll an employee in his or her family in the FEHB
program when a State court orders the employee to provide health
insurance coverage for a child of the employee.
If the affected employee is already enrolled for self-only coverage,
the employing agency would be authorized to change the enrollment to
self and family. If the affected employee is not enrolled in the FEHB
Program, the employing agency would be required to enroll him or her
under the standard option of the service benefit plan Blue Cross/Blue
Shield.
Finally, the employee would be barred from discontinuing the self and
family enrollment as long as the court order remains in effect, the
child meets the statutory definition of family member, and the employee
cannot show that the child has other insurance.
I am pleased that H.R. 2842 is supported by the Association for
Children for Enforcement of Support. ACES is the largest child support
organization dedicated to assisting disadvantaged families entitled to
support.
Mr. Speaker, someone once said that children are the living messages
we send to a future we may never see, and when we think about what we
are doing here, it is a very important deed providing children with
health care coverage. I have often said it is not the deed, but it is
the memory, and if we can have children that can gain health care when
they need it and can look back on their lives and had access to doctors
and could get well throughout their lives, I think they will be able to
look back, not only on pleasant memories, but they will be able to look
back on a healthy life.
Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this legislation and by
doing so, we send a very powerful message to this future that we may
never see.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mrs. MORELLA. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. CUMMINGS. Mr. Speaker, it is my pleasure to yield 5 minutes to
the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Hoyer), my distinguished colleague and
one who has been at the forefront of issues regarding Federal employees
and children.
(Mr. HOYER asked and was given permission to revise and extend his
remarks.)
Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend, the distinguished
gentleman from Baltimore, Maryland (Mr. Cummings) for yielding the time
to me and, Mr. Speaker, I also want to join with my other friend, the
distinguished gentlewoman from Montgomery County, Maryland (Mrs.
Morella) in strong support of this Federal Employee Health Benefits
Equity Act of 2000.
The gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Cummings) and the gentlewoman from
Maryland (Mrs. Morella) have explained very well the purposes of this
legislation.
Mr. Speaker, I rise to, perhaps, discuss this in a little different
perspective, but I think an important one. Many pieces of legislation
come to this floor and we focus on them because they seek to focus on
personal responsibility. Unfortunately, in America today too many
people believe that having children is not a personal responsibility.
They believe that perhaps it is biologically their child, but somehow
not their responsibility.
We have passed legislation and the distinguished gentleman from
Illinois (Mr. Hyde), the chairman of the Committee on the Judiciary is
on the floor,
[[Page H7762]]
and he and I have cosponsored legislation which seeks to ensure that
once somebody is blessed with a child that they will meet their
responsibilities to that child. We passed legislation, as the gentleman
from Baltimore pointed out, in 1993 which said that we were going to
ensure that children would be covered under the health care policies of
their parents. However, we did not also include Federal employees, the
Federal Employee Health Benefit Plan, under that provision. We thought
we had.
I think that was our concept but we had not and this legislation
seeks to cure that defect in the language.
Now, the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Cummings), the gentlewoman from
Maryland (Mrs. Morella), and I are unreserved supporters of Federal
employees; but Federal employees, like every other individual in our
country, need to meet their responsibilities. I believe that I had and
continue to have a personal responsibility for my children. It is not
the responsibility of the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Cummings) or the
responsibility of the gentlewoman from Maryland (Mrs. Morella), it is
my responsibility. They are my children. Now, they are all adults now,
but I view them as a blessing. I view it as a blessing that I have the
opportunity and the wherewithal, very frankly, to help them.
I would hope every parent would do that; not only would I hope they
would do it, it is my expectation that they would do it. And this
legislation simply says, as the gentleman has pointed out in correct
detail, that if a court orders you to carry your child on your policy
and provide them with health care coverage, critical to every child in
America, then the Federal employer, like every other employer, will
comply with the law in making sure that you meet that personal
responsibility.
So I rise in very strong support of that. Some will say it is an
additional burden on Federal employees; I say it is not. It is an
equitable treatment of Federal employees as we want every other
employee in America to be treated so that children in America will be
better cared for and will grow up more secure and safe and better
citizens.
Although this bill will not get national publicity, it is a very
important bill, not only for the children that it will immediately
affect, but for the principle that it adopts of responsibility of
parents for the welfare and well-being of their children.
Mrs. MORELLA. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. CUMMINGS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Hoyer)
for his comments, because his comments really go to the crux of why we
are doing what we are doing. I think all of us, all of us in this
Congress accept the fact that we have to do everything in our power to
make sure children have an opportunity to grow up so that they can be
the best that they can be.
And when we think about something like health care, a child able to
be taken care of if he has the measles or the mumps or has some kind of
problem, health problem, just to know that that custodial parent is
placed in a position where he or she can take that child to a health
care provider and have that child taken care of is so very, very
important.
As the gentleman said, this bill may not reach the headlines of our
papers; but I can tell my colleagues one thing, it will reach the
headlines of a lot of families, a lot of custodial parents who merely
want their children to be healthy.
Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this very important
legislation. I again, thank the gentlewoman from Maryland (Mrs.
Morella). I want to thank all of the members of our subcommittee for
the bipartisan effort in our quest to uplift the children of our great
Nation.
Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
{time} 1245
Mrs. MORELLA. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, this is a little bill that goes a long way, a long way
as we have heard in terms of helping those children who are most
vulnerable to make sure that they are provided health insurance. It is
going to enable the Federal Government to enroll an employee in a self
and family plan in the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program when a
State court orders the employee to provide health insurance coverage
for a child of the employee, but the employee fails to provide the
coverage.
I want to thank the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Cummings) for
sponsoring this bill, for recognizing its importance. I want to thank
the chairman of the Subcommittee on Civil Service, the gentleman from
Florida (Mr. Scarborough), for helping this bill come forward; the
gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Burton), the chairman of the full Committee
on Government Reform; the gentleman from California (Mr. Waxman), the
ranking member of the Committee on Government Reform; the cosponsors
and those who have spoken today, the gentleman from Maryland (Mr.
Hoyer), in effect.
I do want to ask that the Members of this House unanimously, I hope,
support this important legislation.
Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Isakson). The question is on the motion
offered by the gentlewoman from Maryland (Mrs. Morella) that the House
suspend the rules and pass the bill, H.R. 2842, as amended.
The question was taken; and (two-thirds having voted in favor
thereof) the rules were suspended and the bill, as amended, was passed.
The title of the bill was amended so as to read:
``A bill to amend chapter 89 of title 5, United States
Code, concerning the Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB)
Program, to enable the Federal Government to enroll an
employee and his or her family in the FEHB Program when a
State court orders the employee to provide health insurance
coverage for a child of the employee but the employee fails
to provide the coverage, and for other purposes.''.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
____________________