H.J.Res. 61 (114^th): Hire More Heroes Act of 2015

The Hire More Heroes Act would exempt employees with health coverage from TRICARE or the Veterans Administration from being considered in the employer mandate under the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The employer mandate of the ACA requires employers of 50 or more full-time employees to provide qualified health insurance. The bill would exclude veterans receiving health care benefits from this count. Sponsor Sen. Rodney Davis (R-IL13), issued this press release upon introduction of the bill. In it he argued that the bill would encourage employers to hire veterans.

It was originally passed in the House as H.R. 22, but after H.R. 22 became the vehicle for passage of the DRIVE Act, the Hire More Heroes Act was passed again on July 27 as H.J.Res. 61.

On September 10, 2015, Republicans attempted in a cloture vote to replace the text of this bill with a resolution rejecting the President's nuclear deal with Iran. Since the vote failed, the bill remains the Hire More Heroes Act.

The summary below was written by the Congressional Research Service, which is a nonpartisan division of the Library of Congress, and was published on Jul 27, 2015.

(This measure has not been amended since it was introduced. The summary has been expanded because action occurred on the measure.)

Hire More Heroes Act of 2015

(Sec. 2) This joint resolution amends the Internal Revenue Code to exempt any employee with coverage under a health care program administered by the Department of Defense, including the TRICARE program, or by the Department of Veterans Affairs from classification as an eligible employee of an applicable large employer for purposes of the employer mandate under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to provide eligible employees with minimum essential health care coverage.

(Sec. 3) The budgetary effects of this joint resolution are not entered on either PAYGO scorecard under the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010.