Health care bills introduced in beginning of 112th Congress

Below is a sampling of the healthcare-related bills introduced at the beginning of the 112th Congress. You can read the full text of the bills below by searching http://thomas.loc.gov/ for the bill number (e.g., HR2, in which HR stands for House of Representatives).

• Rep. Cantor (R-VA) – H.R. 2: Repealing the Job-Killing Health Care Law Act – would repeal ObamaCare.
• Rep. King (R-IA) – H.R. 141: To Repeal the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 – would repeal ObamaCare.
• Rep. Mack (R-FL) – H.R. 145: To Repeal the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and Related Health-Care Provisions – would repeal ObamaCare.
• Rep. Poe (R-TX) – H.R. 154: Defund the Individual Mandate Act – would prohibit the use of any federal funds to implement or enforce any federal mandate to purchase health insurance.
• Rep. Broun (R-GA) – H.R. 299: To Repeal To Repeal the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010, and for other purposes – would repeal ObamaCare, repeal the 7.5 percent threshold on the deduction for medical expenses, provide for increased funding for high-risk pools, allow individuals to acquire health insurance across State lines, and allow for the creation of association health plans.
• Rep. Garrett (R-NJ) – H.R. 21: The Reclaiming Individual Liberty Act – would repeal the mandate included in ObamaCare that individuals purchase health insurance.
• Rep. Graves (R-GA) – H.R. 127: To Deauthorize Appropriation of Funds to Carry Out the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act – would deauthorize the appropriation of funds to carry out any of the provisions ObamaCare.
• Rep. Fleming (R-LA) – H.R. 38: To Rescind Funds Appropriated to the Health Insurance Reform Implementation Fund under the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 – would rescind any funds remaining of those appropriated for the implementation of ObamaCare.
• Rep. Forbes (R-VA) – H.R. 334: The Prevent IRS Overreach Act of 2011 – would prohibit the Internal Revenue Service from hiring new employees to enforce the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act or the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010.
• Rep. Lungren (R-CA) – H.R. 4: The Small Business Paperwork Mandate Elimination Act of 2011 – would repeal section 9006 of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, which requires every corporation to file a 1099 form for each payment of over $600 made to individuals or corporations.
• Rep. Scalise (R-LA) – H.R. 60: To Repeal the Expansion of Information Reporting Requirements for Payments of $600 or More to Corporations – would repeal section 9006 of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, which requires every corporation to file a 1099 form for each payment of over $600 made to individuals or corporations.
• Rep. Blackburn (R-TN) – H.R. 371: Health Care Choice Act of 2011 – would repeal Title I of ObamaCare, which includes the health insurance provisions of the law. It also provides for the purchase of health insurance across state lines.
• Rep. Burton (R-IN) – H.R. 105: The Empowering Patients First Act – is the reintroduction of the Republican Study Committee’s health care reform bill from the 111th Congress. Further information and short and extended summaries are available here.
• Rep. Stearns (R-FL) – H.R. 171: The Health Care Tax Deduction Act of 2011 – would allow individuals to annually deduct the combined sum of all qualified health insurance costs and any unreimbursed prescription drug expense paid for by the individual for themselves or their spouse and dependents.
• Rep. Pearce (R-NM) – H.R. 346: Health Care Choice Act of 2011 – would allow for the purchase of health insurance across state lines and provide a procedure for independent external appeals.
• Rep. Austria (R-OH) – H.R. 369: The Health Savings and Affordability Act of 2011 – would allow individuals to annually deduct the combined sum of all qualified health insurance costs. It would also grant an increase in health savings account (HSA) contribution limits and allow both spouses to make catch-up contributions to an HSA.
• Rep. Thornberry (R-TX) – H.R. 314: The Medical Liability Procedural Reform Act of 2011 – would provide grants to several states for the development, implementation, and evaluation of health care tribunals. A health care tribunal is a trial court or administrative tribunal whose sole function is to adjudicate disputes over injuries allegedly caused by health care providers. The judges for such a tribunal have health care expertise and rely on independent expert witnesses.
• Rep. Thornberry (R-TX) – H.R. 315: The Health Care Paperwork Reduction and Fraud Prevention Act – would reduce the amount of paperwork and improve payment policies for health care services, and prevent fraud and abuse through health care provider education. It would establish a National Bipartisan Commission on Billing Codes and Forms Simplification, create a simple process for physicians and providers to receive assistance with questionable codes and procedures, and reforms the implementation process for new evaluation and management guidelines under the Medicare program and the treatment of physician overpayments by the Department of Health and Human Services.
• Rep. Blackburn (R-TN) – H.R. 103: The Health Care Choices for Seniors Act – would allow seniors to choose their HSA over Medicare without penalty. The bill splits the connection between Social Security and Medicare, provides a voucher for those that opt-out of Medicare in return for their years of paying Medicare payroll taxes, and would allow individuals to continue tax-free contributions to their HSA. Additionally, the bill would delay enrollment penalties until age 70 to allow seniors more flexibility to keep their HSA after age 65.
• Rep. Blackburn (R-TN) – H.R. 234: The Savings for Seniors Act of 2011 – would prohibit Congress from spending Social Security surpluses and form a bipartisan commission to consider the best use of those funds. Social Security tax receipts that are not used to pay current Social Security expenses would be placed in an off-budget account and remain there until Congress passed legislation that approves an investment vehicle for the funds. This would serve to prevent Social Security surpluses from being invested in the obligations of the Federal government.