Health Savings Accounts Improvements Act of 2012
Latest action. Placed on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 365.
Health Savings Accounts Improvements Act of 2012 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code, with respect to health savings accounts (HSAs), to: (1) allow a tax credit for retirement savings contributions for deductible contributions made to an HSA and salary reduction contributions under a cafeteria plan made by an employer to an HSA; (2) provide a special rule to allow a tax deduction for medical expenses incurred before the establishment of an HSA; (3) allow a husband and wife to make catch-up contributions to the same HSA; (4) allow veterans who receive medical benefits for a service-connected disability to participate in an HSA; and (5) allow HSA participants who are enrolled in a group health plan as a former employee or spouse of a former employee and who have attained age 55, but not age 65, to pay expenses for coverage under such plan from an HSA.
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 June 5, 2012. 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 June 5, 2012: Placed on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 365.
- 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 112th Congress (2011-12), 283 of the 10,618 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 2.7 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?
WALLY HERGER (R-CA) introduced it on May 29, 2012, and 1 member has since signed on as a cosponsor.
They are 1 Republican.
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 May 29, 2012, 5217 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 5210 days ago, on June 5, 2012.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 112th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2013 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