H.R. 3522, the "Employee Health Care Protection Act of 2013"

H.R. 3522 would permit any health insurance issuer offering coverage in the group market in 2013 to continue to offer that coverage in 2014 and beyond.  These insurance policies would not have to comply with the ACA consumer protections that went into effect in 2014.  The legislation would allow insurance companies to discriminate against small businesses if they have an older workforce, more women in their workforce, or if any of their employees or their children have pre-existing health conditions.  Under the legislation, these small businesses would face higher premiums and would continue to see their premiums spike year to year if an employee had an accident, developed a chronic health condition, or had a complicated pregnancy.

 

Under the legislation, group health insurance plans could continue to impose annual limits on coverage, meaning that insurers could cease to provide any coverage after an individual’s care reached a certain overall cost.  These plans also could continue to impose extensive waiting periods before allowing individuals to enroll in coverage and could discriminate against workers with lower compensation by offering them lesser health coverage than highly compensated workers.

 

On September 11, 2014, H.R. 3522 passed the House by a roll call vote of 247-167.