[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 15 (Thursday, January 25, 2007)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1198-S1199]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. SUNUNU (for himself, Mr. Gregg, and Mrs. Clinton):
  S. 400. A bill to amend the Employee Retirement Income Security Act 
of 1974 and the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to ensure that dependent 
students who take a medically necessary leave of absence do not lose 
health insurance coverage, and for other purposes; to the Committee on 
Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
  Mr. SUNUNU. Mr. President, I rise today on behalf of Senator Gregg 
and Senator Clinton to introduce Michelle's Law. This bill mirrors the 
law the State of New Hampshire passed in June 2006. Michelle Morse was 
a 20-year-old resident of Manchester, NH, and a full-time student at 
Plymouth State University when diagnosed with colon cancer in December 
2003. Michelle's doctors wanted her to take a medical leave of absence 
to undergo surgery and chemotherapy, but if she dropped out of school 
she would no longer be covered as a dependent under her mother's plan 
because she would no longer be enrolled as a full-time student. The 
family had the option to obtain COBRA coverage but the Morses estimated 
the increase in monthly premiums would have been too costly. Michelle's 
family decided she would remain in school full time, maintain coverage, 
and maintain her lifestyle as much as she could. So along with her 
homework and books, Michelle would attend class carrying a portable 
chemotherapy pump attached to her hip. She refused to let cancer and 
the aggressive chemotherapy treatment slow her down during the next 2 
years, even while student teaching at Bakersville Elementary School in 
Manchester, and graduated from Plymouth State in

[[Page S1199]]

May 2005. However, Michelle bravely lost her battle with cancer in 
November 2005.
  Michelle's predicament prompted her mother AnnMarie to take this 
woeful Catch-22 they experienced to the New Hampshire State 
Legislature. New Hampshire responded by passing Michelle's Law in June 
2006, allowing full-time students covered under State-regulated health 
plans a 1-year medical leave of absence while maintaining their 
dependency status. The bill we introduce today affords the same medical 
leave of absence to full-time students covered under health plans 
governed by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974--ERISA. 
Michelle's Law would allow full-time students and their families to 
focus solely on treating an illness as opposed to concurrently being a 
full-time patient and full-time student. While this bill creates an 
additional mandate for ERISA plans, this provision would apply to less 
than 1 percent of all college-aged students. Yet without this modest 
change, the costs and hardships may be enormous. Also, this bill does 
not trespass on any state's right to govern and regulate its own health 
insurance business.
  I thank AnnMarie Morse for her tireless efforts in making sure 
another student does not get caught between a medical leave of absence 
rock and a hard place of insurance regulations. I also thank Senators 
Gregg and Clinton for joining me today and I hope my colleagues in the 
Senate join us with their support and pass Michelle's Law.

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