[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 127 (Thursday, October 12, 2000)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1766]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


      INTRODUCTION OF THE EMPLOYEE HEALTH BENEFITS DISCLOSURE ACT

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                         HON. RICHARD K. ARMEY

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, October 11, 2000

  Mr. ARMEY. Mr. Speaker, I am proud to introduce the Employee Health 
Benefits Disclosure Act of 2000, a small but important stepping-stone 
to the consumer-driven health-care marketplace of tomorrow.
  This bill addresses an important problem. Today, most workers don't 
know how much money their workplace health coverage costs. They have no 
idea. Their employers usually only inform them about the ``employee 
share'' of the cost. The employer's share is left invisible.
  Also left invisible is the generous taxpayer subsidy given to 
workplace health benefits under section 106 of the tax code.
  Under that section, workers pay no income, payroll, or unemployment 
taxes on those benefits. Yet employees are almost always unaware of the 
fact. This is wrong. People have a right to know about the tax benefits 
they're receiving. They have a right to know how much their labor is 
really worth.
  This bill gives workers that important information. It helps them 
become more informed employees and better health-care consumers.
  How does it do this? It requires employers, who have more than 100 
employees, and who provide health benefits, to communicate to their 
employees at least once a year the amount of the employer's share of 
the contribution.
  This notice must be accompanied with the following sentence: ``This 
contribution is part of your total compensation and reduces your cash 
wages and other compensation by a like amount.'' The requirement takes 
effect January 1, 2005.
  I've tried to make the requirement as convenient as possible for 
employers. They may compute an average, rather than a specific amount 
per employee. And they may use the most convenient method of 
communication. They may use a letter, the weekly pay stub, the summary 
plan description, a slip inserted with the W-2 tax form, or any other 
reasonable means.
  The important thing is not how the information is provided--but that 
it be provided, and in a clear and understandable form. I confess I'm 
not happy about imposing a new government mandate on employers. That 
goes against my grain. It rubs me the wrong way. But in this limited 
and unique case, I think the benefits far outweigh the costs.
  It is good public policy for workers to know how much their labor is 
worth, and how their compensation is structured. Workers have a right 
to know this currently invisible information which bears so directly on 
their well-being and happiness. Employers have a duty to provide it.
  Legislation is needed to make sure employers provide it in a clear, 
consistent, and understandable manner. Hence this bill.
  I look forward to a day when health care in America is a true 
marketplace in which consumers are king, where prices are constantly 
going down and quality is constantly going up, and where everyone gets 
the health care he needs when he needs it.
  Only consumers can bring such a market into being--only consumers 
armed with full information.

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