[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 124 (Tuesday, July 24, 2018)]
[House]
[Pages H7107-H7109]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                EQUITABLE ACCESS TO CARE AND HEALTH ACT

  Mr. ROSKAM. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
bill (H.R. 1201) to amend section 5000A of the Internal Revenue Code of 
1986 to provide an additional religious exemption from the individual 
health coverage mandate, and for other purposes, as amended.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                               H.R. 1201

       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 ``Equitable Access to Care and 
     Health Act'' or the ``EACH Act''.

[[Page H7108]]

  


     SEC. 2. ADDITIONAL RELIGIOUS EXEMPTION FROM HEALTH COVERAGE 
                   RESPONSIBILITY REQUIREMENT.

       (a) In General.--Section 5000A(d)(2)(A) of the Internal 
     Revenue Code of 1986 is amended to read as follows:
       ``(A) Religious conscience exemptions.--
       ``(i) In general.--Such term shall not include any 
     individual for any month if such individual has in effect an 
     exemption under section 1311(d)(4)(H) of the Patient 
     Protection and Affordable Care Act which certifies that--

       ``(I) such individual is a member of a recognized religious 
     sect or division thereof which is described in section 
     1402(g)(1), and is adherent of established tenets or 
     teachings of such sect or division as described in such 
     section; or
       ``(II) such individual is a member of a religious sect or 
     division thereof which is not described in section 
     1402(g)(1), who relies solely on a religious method of 
     healing, and for whom the acceptance of medical health 
     services would be inconsistent with the religious beliefs of 
     the individual.

       ``(ii) Special rules.--

       ``(I) Medical health services defined.--For purposes of 
     this subparagraph, the term `medical health services' does 
     not include routine dental, vision and hearing services, 
     midwifery services, vaccinations, necessary medical services 
     provided to children, services required by law or by a third 
     party, and such other services as the Secretary of Health and 
     Human Services may provide in implementing section 
     1311(d)(4)(H) of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care 
     Act.
       ``(II) Attestation required.--Clause (i)(II) shall apply to 
     an individual for months in a taxable year only if the 
     information provided by the individual under section 
     1411(b)(5)(A) of such Act includes an attestation that the 
     individual has not received medical health services during 
     the preceding taxable year.''.

       (b) Effective Date.--The amendment made by subsection (a) 
     shall apply to taxable years beginning after December 31, 
     2018.
       (c) Construction.--Nothing in the amendment made by 
     subsection (a) shall preempt any State law requiring the 
     provision of medical treatment for children, especially those 
     who are seriously ill.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Illinois (Mr. Roskam) and the gentleman from California (Mr. Thompson) 
each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Illinois.


                             General Leave

  Mr. ROSKAM. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may 
have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and 
include extraneous material on H.R. 1201, currently under 
consideration.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Illinois?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. ROSKAM. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I am very happy to see this bipartisan bill is getting a 
vote today.
  H.R. 1201, the EACH Act, or Equitable Access to Care and Health Act, 
introduced by my colleague, Mr. Rodney Davis from Illinois, provides 
commonsense relief from ObamaCare's mandate to purchase insurance from 
those who object on religious grounds.
  This bill extends the religious conscience exemption from ObamaCare's 
individual mandate to those individuals who rely solely on a religious 
method of healing. Receiving medical health services, as we 
traditionally think of them, is inconsistent with the religious belief 
of Christian Scientists.
  This bill says that for people who choose not to use traditional 
healthcare or services, they are fully exempted from the Affordable 
Care Act's requirement to buy insurance. For Christian Scientists, if 
they bought the insurance plan, they wouldn't use it anyway. If you 
don't believe in something, why should the government force you to 
participate.
  In healthcare, so many of our choices have been restricted because of 
the Affordable Care Act's domino effect across the entire healthcare 
sector. The EACH Act takes a step in the right direction by restoring 
freedom for people who had to face a dire decision of either violating 
their conscience by purchasing ObamaCare or violating the law. This is 
an unfair position that the law should not put them in, and I hope we 
can finally resolve this by passing the EACH Act today.
  We must come together to help those who have been hurt by this 
intrusion into their lives. This bill has widespread bipartisan 
support. In fact, the House passed a similar bill last Congress by 
voice vote. Once more, passing the EACH Act will reduce the deficit by 
$31 million.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. THOMPSON of California. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as 
I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, the House has passed this bill before, making 
clarifications on the existing religious exemptions for healthcare. I 
understand that religious groups have important healthcare concerns 
that must be taken seriously.
  I support this bill. But we should be talking about issues in 
healthcare that our constituents are bringing up to us every day, like 
skyrocketing prescription drug costs, increasing premium costs, and 
threats to guaranteed coverage for preexisting conditions, a direct 
result of efforts by my Republican colleagues.
  The Trump administration continues to raise costs and reduce access 
to affordable healthcare in its never-ending effort to sabotage the 
Affordable Care Act.
  In just the last few weeks, the administration has refused to defend 
protections for Americans with preexisting conditions, stopped risk 
adjustment payments to health plans covering sicker patients, and again 
slashed payments to the navigators that help people access healthcare 
insurance. These and many other misguided efforts are raising the costs 
for those Americans who need healthcare coverage the most.
  We should be examining and responding to this growing threat to 
affordable care, not ignoring it.
  I encourage my Republican colleagues to bring to the floor bills that 
truly address the healthcare cost crisis that middle class Americans 
and seniors are facing. After all, that was their promise to our 
constituents.
  In 2015, the President promised:
  We're going to terminate ObamaCare. We're going to terminate it, it's 
going to be terminated. It's going to be replaced with something much 
better and something much less expensive for you and for the country.
  Republicans and the President have failed to present the public with 
a better plan, and they have failed to drive down the cost to patients.
  As a matter of fact, their work has driven costs up. The cumulative 
ACA sabotage by the Republican Congress and the administration are 
adding as much as 24 percent of healthcare premium increases in my home 
State of California.
  Now they should work with us to strengthen and protect existing 
programs so that our constituents can go to the doctor when they need 
to or get surgery or a drug that their lives depend on. As Members of 
Congress, this is our responsibility.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. ROSKAM. Mr. Speaker, the good news for my friend from California 
is that tomorrow he will have an opportunity to vote on bills that will 
lower the costs of healthcare with the health savings account agenda 
that is forthcoming.
  Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from 
Texas (Mr. Smith), a longstanding advocate on behalf of Christian 
Scientists, who has tried to bring rescue to them.

                              {time}  1445

  Mr. SMITH of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Illinois 
(Mr. Roskam) for yielding me time, and I thank another gentleman from 
Illinois (Mr. Rodney Davis) for introducing this legislation.
  The Equitable Access to Care and Health Act is a bill that I strongly 
support. It expands the religious conscience exemption in the 
Affordable Care Act.
  The bipartisan legislation has broad support in the House and in the 
Senate. It has passed the House by voice vote in the last two 
Congresses.
  The ACA currently provides for a religious conscience exemption, but 
the exemption is unduly narrow and applies only to a few faiths. This 
exemption should be expanded to accommodate other religions whose 
sincerely-held religious beliefs could cause them not to purchase 
healthcare insurance.
  With the recent repeal of the individual mandate, the CBO now 
estimates that the bill will result in about $30 million in cost 
savings. I hope my colleagues will support this piece of legislation. 
It will help advance the cause of religious freedom.
  Mr. THOMPSON of California. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as 
I may consume.

[[Page H7109]]

  I just want to mention that my friend and committee member was half 
right in what he said about tomorrow's vote. We will be voting on some 
healthcare bills tomorrow, and they are bills that will help. But they 
will help people that either have the money to pay for healthcare or 
people who are healthy, not the folks who need access to quality, 
affordable healthcare.
  I would be remiss if I didn't point out that, contrary to this 
party's position for decades, these bills aren't paid for, and they are 
going to add about $70 billion worth of costs to our national debt.
  I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. ROSKAM. Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from 
Illinois (Mr. Rodney Davis).
  Mr. RODNEY DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I thank Mr. Roskam for his 
leadership on this issue. I also want to thank the gentleman from 
California (Mr. Thompson), because this bill that we are talking about 
today is and has been rife with nothing but bipartisan support. It is 
issues like this that we can work together to correct. No matter what 
the bill is, no matter what some of the other outlying issues of 
implementation of certain laws that may or may not affect our 
constituents and how they do so, but the fact that we are trying to fix 
this once and for all, for many in this country, is a testament to what 
good happens here in a bipartisan fashion.
  I also want to thank the chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, 
Kevin Brady, my good friend, for his continued leadership on this issue 
and helping to make sure this bill comes back to the floor.
  This Congress has an opportunity to continue the bipartisanship I 
just talked about and promote religious liberty and fairness by passing 
the EACH Act, because the EACH Act modestly expands the religious 
conscience exemptions under the Affordable Care Act to include 
individuals who rely solely on religious methods of healing.
  The current religious conscience exemption under the Affordable Care 
Act exclusively applies to only a few select faiths. As a result, some 
Americans, including Christian Scientists, are required to purchase 
medical health insurance that does not cover the healthcare of their 
religious practice and choice. They are, therefore, forced with the 
choice of violating their conscience by purchasing traditional health 
insurance or violating the law by not complying with any individual 
mandate.
  Under the EACH Act, applicants must attest annually that they are a 
member of a religious group, that they rely solely on a religious 
method of healing, and that they have not received medical health 
services during the preceding taxable year.
  This is a very important point, Mr. Speaker. Additionally, with the 
help of input from the American Academy of Pediatrics, the bill makes 
it clear that the legislation does not preempt any State laws requiring 
the provision of medical treatment for children. Further, if a parent 
needs to provide a necessary medical service to a child, doing so would 
not invalidate the individual's exemption.
  The EACH Act, again, is truly an example of bipartisan legislation 
with input from stakeholders that actually made it better. I am proud 
to have worked with my friend and colleague, Mr. Keating, on moving 
this legislation forward. He knows this issue well. His home State of 
Massachusetts established a similar religious conscience exemption in 
State law more than 10 years ago.
  I also represent Principia College, a college for Christian 
Scientists in Elsah, Illinois, one that we have a few graduates of 
right here in Congress, including the last speaker, Mr. Lamar Smith. 
While working on this bill, I have heard from both students and 
professors from Principia on the importance of passing this legislation 
and what it would mean to their lives.
  One such student wrote: ``I feel religious liberty is such a vital 
part of the American exceptionalism that permeates worldly thought, and 
the passing of this bill will only contribute to the commitment of our 
government to preserve that right. My family has paid excessive amounts 
for healthcare, among other expenses, that we do not use due to our 
reliance on the Christian Science healing for prayer. I do not believe 
Christian Scientists should feel that they are being punished in some 
way for expressing their First Amendment right.''
  Well, Mr. Speaker, I am proud to stand up here today for their First 
Amendment right.
  This legislation is about as straightforward as it gets. It is 
broadly bipartisan, promotes religious liberty and fairness, and it 
also saves the taxpayers money. The Congressional Budget Office 
estimated passing the EACH Act would save taxpayers an additional $31 
million, if signed into law.
  The EACH Act passed this House in both the 113th and 114th 
Congresses, but, unfortunately, it was held up in the Senate. It is 
time that Congress finally passes the EACH Act out of both Chambers and 
sends it to th President's desk for his signature.

  I urge a ``yes'' vote.
  Mr. THOMPSON of California. Mr. Speaker, I am prepared to close. Does 
the gentleman from Illinois have further speakers?
  Mr. ROSKAM. Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers.
  Mr. THOMPSON of California. Mr. Speaker, I am prepared to close. I 
yield myself the balance of my time, and I thank the sponsors for their 
work on this bill. I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to 
support this bill.
  I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. ROSKAM. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.
  We hold conscience in this House tenderly. Our Founders were wise. In 
the First Amendment to the Bill of Rights, the first freedom that they 
articulated was our freedom to worship. What you are hearing today is a 
bipartisan consensus that we value that, and we recognize the power of 
conscience, the power of religious liberty, the power of being able to 
worship as one pleases. That is something that Mr. Davis from Illinois 
is advocating today, Mr. Thompson is supporting as well, along with the 
longstanding work of Mr. Smith from Texas.
  Passing this bill will give those who object to health insurance on 
religious grounds the ability to opt out of the system that they don't 
want to participate in, in its entirety. They won't have to face a 
choice between violating their belief and violating the law anymore. I 
urge its passage, and I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Roskam) that the House suspend the rules 
and pass the bill, H.R. 1201, as amended.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the 
rules were suspended and the bill, as amended, was passed.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

                          ____________________