Restoring Access to Medication and Improving Health Savings Act of 2016
Latest action. Read the second time. Placed on Senate legislative calendarThe list of measures reported out of committee and eligible for floor action. Being on the calendar is not a promise of a vote.Read the full definition (opens a new tab) under General Orders. Calendar No. 550.
Restoring Access to Medication and Improving Health Savings Act of 2016
This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to modify the rules that apply to health savings accounts (HSAs) and overpayments of subsidies under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.
Restoring Access to Medication Act of 2016
The bill repeals provisions of the Internal Revenue Code, as added by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, that limit payments for medications from HSAs, medical savings accounts, and health flexible spending arrangements to only prescription drugs or insulin (thus allowing distributions from such accounts for over-the-counter drugs).
Health Care Security Act of 2016
The bill modifies the rules for HSAs with respect to catch-up contributions for married couples, medical expenses incurred before an HSA is established, and contribution limits.
If both spouses of a married couple have family coverage under a high deductible health plan, each spouse may make catch-up contributions to the same HSA. (Catch-up contributions are additional contributions which individuals who are at least 55 years of age may make to an HSA.)
If an HSA is established within 60 days of the beginning of coverage under a high deductible health plan, any distribution from the HSA used to pay a qualified medical expense incurred during that 60-day period after the health coverage began is excludible from gross income. (Under current law, the medical expense must be incurred on or after the date that the HSA is established.)
The bill increases the maximum contribution limits for HSAs to equal the maximum for the sum of the annual deductible and out-of-pocket expenses that may be required to be paid for covered benefits under a high deductible health plan.
Protecting Taxpayers by Recovering Improper Obamacare Subsidy Overpayments Act
The bill eliminates the limitation on the increase in tax imposed upon certain low-income families for advance payments of the tax credit for health insurance premium assistance that exceed the allowable amount of such credit.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Passed House amended" stage on July 6, 2016. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
4 steps remain before this bill could become law.
The record's latest action, on July 11, 2016: Read the second time. Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 550.
- Clearing the committees it was referred to, and being scheduled for a floor vote
- Passage by the House
- Passage by the Senate
- The President's signature. If the President vetoes it, two-thirds of both chambers must vote to override.
How likely is it to become law?
Civibrief does not forecast outcomes and this page has no opinion about this one. What the record supports is a base rate, which is a fact about the whole pile, not a prediction about this measure.
In the 114th Congress (2015-16), 329 of the 10,233 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 3.2 percent. That count covers every measure at every stage, including the many that never left committee.
This one is not there yet: 4 steps are still outstanding, listed above.
Has anyone actually voted on it?
No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.
A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.
Who is behind it?
Lynn Jenkins (R-KS) introduced it on March 4, 2015, and 39 members have since signed on as cosponsors.
They come from both major parties: 4 Democrats, 35 Republicans.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
How long has it been in play?
It was introduced on March 4, 2015, 4208 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 3713 days ago, on July 11, 2016.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 114th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2017 dies when the term ends, and has to be introduced again from the start in the next Congress.
Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.
Vote history
- HouseIn committee, no floor vote yet
- SenateAwaits House passage
- PresidentAwaits both chambers