Helping Sick Americans Now Act
Latest action. Rule H. Res. 175 passed House.
Helping Sick Americans Now Act - Amends the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to require the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to transfer from the Prevention and Public Health Fund any unobligated funds which are attributable to FY2013 and any funds that would otherwise be made available to the Fund for FY2014-FY2016 to a Department of Health and Human Services account to carry out the temporary high risk health insurance pool program (a program to provide health insurance coverage to eligible individuals with a preexisting condition). Requires such funds to be available for obligation on the date of enactment of this Act and to remain available through December 31, 2013.
Eliminates the eligibility requirement for the temporary high risk pool which prohibits an individual from having creditable coverage (health coverage) for six months before applying for coverage through the pool.
Requires the Secretary to administer the temporary high risk pool in accordance with current regulations governing the operation of the pool, except as necessary to reflect amendments made by this Act.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Reported to House with amendment(s)" stage on April 19, 2013. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
2 steps remain before this bill could become law.
The record's latest action, on April 24, 2013: Rule H. Res. 175 passed 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 113th Congress (2013-14), 296 of the 9,091 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 3.3 percent. That count covers every measure at every stage, including the many that never left committee.
This one is not there yet: 2 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?
JOSEPH PITTS (R-PA) introduced it on April 15, 2013, and 16 members have since signed on as cosponsors.
They are 16 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 April 15, 2013, 4943 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 4934 days ago, on April 24, 2013.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 113th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2015 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
- HousePassed
- SenateAwaiting Senate vote
- PresidentAwaits both chambers