H.R. 397 (112th): Reform Americans Can Afford Act of 2011

Introduced:
Jan 24, 2011 (112th Congress, 2011–2013)
Sponsor:
Rep. Walter “Wally” Herger [R-CA2]
Status:
Died (Referred to Committee)

The bill’s title was written by the bill’s sponsor. H.R. stands for House of Representatives bill.

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Status

This bill was introduced on January 24, 2011, in a previous session of Congress, but was not enacted.

Progress
Introduced Jan 24, 2011
Referred to Committee Jan 24, 2011
Cosponsors
17 cosponsors (17R) (show)
Committees

House Appropriations

House Education and the Workforce

House Energy and Commerce

House House Administration

House Natural Resources

House Rules

House Judiciary

House Ways and Means

The committee chair determines whether a bill will move past the committee stage.

Full Title

To repeal the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 and to take meaningful steps to lower health care costs and increase access to health insurance coverage without raising taxes, cutting Medicare benefits for seniors, adding to the national deficit, intervening in the doctor-patient relationship, or instituting a government takeover of health care.

Summary

No summaries available.

Text

Read Bill Text »

Last updated Jan 24, 2011.
220 pages

Primary Source

View on THOMAS (The Library of Congress)

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Citation

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GovTrack’s Bill Summary

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Library of Congress Summary

The summary below was written by the Congressional Research Service, which is a nonpartisan division of the Library of Congress.

1/24/2011--Introduced.
Reform Americans Can Afford Act of 2011 - Repeals the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010, effective as of their enactment.
Restores provisions of law amended by such Acts. Requires each state to mitigate the cost of high risk individuals in the state through:
(1) a state reinsurance program; or
(2) a state high risk pool.
Prohibits a health insurance issuer from applying an annual or lifetime aggregate spending cap on any health insurance coverage or plan offered by such issuer, except if the imposition of such a cap would result in a significant decrease in access to benefits or a significant increase in premiums under the plan.
Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to pay awards to states for reducing the premiums in the small group market or the individual market or reducing the percentage of uninsured, nonelderly residents in a state.
Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) to provide for establishment and governance of association health plans, which are group health plans whose sponsors are trade, industry, professional, chamber of commerce, or similar business associations and which meet certain ERISA certification requirements.
Amends ERISA, the Public Health Service Act, and the Internal Revenue Code to require group health plans that provide dependent coverage of children to continue to treat an individual as a dependent until at least 25 years of age.
Prohibits a state from establishing a law that prevents an employer from instituting auto-enrollment for coverage under a group health plan, so long as the participant or beneficiary has the option of declining such coverage.
Directs that the laws of the state designated by a health insurance issuer (primary state) shall apply to individual health insurance coverage offered by that issuer in the primary state and in any other state (secondary state), but only if the coverage and issuer comply with conditions of this Act. Revises provisions related to health savings accounts (HSAs), including to allow the payment of premiums for high deductible health plans from HSA accounts.
Sets conditions for lawsuits arising from health care liability claims regarding health care goods or services or any medical product affecting interstate commerce.
Establishes a statute of limitations and limits noneconomic and punitive damages.
Declares that nothing in this Act shall be construed to interfere with the doctor-patient relationship or the practice of medicine.
Repeals provisions establishing the Federal Coordinating Council for Comparative Effectiveness Research. Permits a group health plan to vary premiums and cost-sharing by up to 50% of the benefits based on participation (or lack of participation) in a wellness program.
Prohibits funds authorized or appropriated by federal law and funds in any trust fund to which funds are authorized or appropriated by federal law from being expended for any abortion.
Allows a person to submit an application for licensure of a biological product based on its similarity to a licensed biological product (the reference product).

House Republican Conference Summary

The summary below was written by the House Republican Conference, which is the caucus of Republicans in the House of Representatives.

No summary available.

House Democratic Caucus Summary

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The bill contains the following citations to other parts of U.S. law:

Slip Laws

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United States Code

The United States Code is the compilation of permanent laws enacted by Congress. Temporary and other non-permanent laws do not appear in the United States Code. (About half of the United States Code is the law itself, called positive law. The other half is merely a compilation of the laws but has no legal significance.)

Other Citations

  • 28 U.S.C. Chapter 171