[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 95 (Wednesday, June 15, 2016)]
[Senate]
[Page S3985]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS

      By Mr. GRASSLEY (for himself, Ms. Heitkamp, Mr. Portman, Mr. 
        Vitter, Mr. Gardner, Mr. Roberts, Mr. Isakson, Mr. Johnson, Mr. 
        Bennet, and Mr. Coons):
  S. 3060. A bill to provide an exception from certain group health 
plan requirements for qualified small employer health reimbursement 
arrangements; to the Committee on Finance.
  Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, for much of this Congress, I have been 
working on a bipartisan basis to correct a little understood provision 
in the Affordable Care Act, ACA, that punishes small businesses for 
attempting to help their employees purchase individual insurance.
  That is right, this provision actually punishes businesses that want 
to do the right thing and help their employees obtain health insurance 
coverage.
  This is a result of so-called market reforms in the ACA, which based 
on IRS guidance generally prohibit employers from reimbursing their 
employees for the cost of health insurance the employee purchases on 
the individual market. An employer who does do this faces a $100 a day 
per employee penalty.
  This fails to meet the common sense test, particularly when it comes 
to farmers, ranchers, and small business owners who frequently do not 
have the resources to offer a traditional group health plan to their 
employees.
  These businesses have no obligation under the ACA to offer any form 
of insurance. However, they would like to do what they can to help 
their employees obtain coverage. This is a practice that should be 
commended, not penalized.
  This is why last June 1 introduced the Small Business Health Care 
Relief Act with Senator Heitkamp. Under our bill, small businesses 
would once again be able to do something many have done for years. 
Namely, reimburse their employees on a pre-tax basis for the purchase 
of health insurance on the individual market.
  Since introduction, Senator Heitkamp and I have been working, along 
with Congressman Boustany and Thompson in the House, with the Joint 
Committee on Taxation and Treasury to get feedback on our bill to 
ensure it works as intended.
  I am pleased today to see that this hard work is starting to bear 
fruit. The Ways and Means Committee marked up and favorably reported to 
the full House a slightly revised version of our bill with bipartisan 
support.
  In hopes of continuing this momentum, Senator Heitkamp and I are 
reintroducing this revised version of the Small Business Health Care 
Relief Act in the Senate today.
  This new version mainly makes improvements to the bill to ensure the 
bill will work as intended. Further, in order to address cost concerns, 
the bill imposes a generous limit on the amount an employer may provide 
to their employee to purchase individual insurance. This limit is set 
at $5,130 for individuals and $10,260 for a family. These amounts are 
indexed for inflation going forward.
  I am pleased that our bill continues to have strong support from the 
small business community, including the National Association of Home 
Builders, the National Association for the Self-Employed, the National 
Federation of Independent Business, the Council for Affordable Health 
Coverage, the American Farm Bureau, and many more.
  This legislation should be a no brainer for anyone who supports small 
business. I hope with today's action in the Ways and Means Committee, 
it is only a matter of time before this legislation becomes law. I urge 
all my colleagues to work with Senator Heitkamp and me to see to it 
that this becomes a reality.

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