PlainBillCongress, translated.Legislation. Context. Public interest.Referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committees on Energy and Commerce, House Administration, and Oversight and Government Reform, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Congressional Research Service
Version 00 · Introduced in House · Jan 3, 2025
Protection from Obamacare Mandates and Congressional Equity Act
This bill alters provisions relating to the requirement to maintain minimum essential health care coverage (i.e., the individual mandate), as well as provisions relating to health care coverage for certain executive branch and congressional employees.
Specifically, the bill exempts individuals from the requirement to maintain minimum essential health care coverage if they reside in a county where fewer than two health insurers offer insurance on the health insurance exchange. Under current law, there is no penalty for failing to maintain minimum essential health care coverage.
Showing the opening paragraphs of the official summary.
The bill also requires certain executive branch and congressional employees to participate in health insurance exchanges. Under current law, Members of Congress and their designated staff are required to obtain coverage through health insurance exchanges, rather than the Federal Employee Health Benefits (FEHB) Program. Current regulations authorize government contributions toward such coverage and require Members of Congress to designate which members of their staff are required to obtain coverage through an exchange.
The bill requires all congressional staff, including employees of congressional committees and leadership offices, to obtain coverage through an exchange. The bill also prohibits Members of Congress from having the discretion to determine which of their employees are eligible to enroll through an exchange. Further, the President, Vice President, and executive branch political appointees must also obtain coverage through exchanges, rather than FEHB. The government is prohibited from contributing to or subsidizing the health insurance coverage of the officials and employees subject to this requirement, including Members of Congress and their staff.
People & committees
Rep. Biggs, Andy [R-AZ-5] · R–AZ
Legislative record
A procedural vote is different from passage. Passage in one chamber does not establish enactment. Explore the glossary.
Referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committees on Energy and Commerce, House Administration, and Oversight and Government Reform, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committees on Energy and Commerce, House Administration, and Oversight and Government Reform, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committees on Energy and Commerce, House Administration, and Oversight and Government Reform, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committees on Energy and Commerce, House Administration, and Oversight and Government Reform, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Primary sources
Text links open the official source. We also preserved the text version used in the PlainBill explanation below.
No related bills are listed in this snapshot. This does not establish whether the proposal has appeared in earlier Congresses.
Source last updated: Feb 24, 2025. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
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Analyze H.R.127 as objectively as possible. Explain its main provisions, who would be affected, possible benefits and harms, implementation, exceptions, and uncertainties. Present the strongest arguments for and against it, and identify evidence needed to assess its public impact.
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PlainBill explanation
Based on the full Introduced in House · 2025-01-03 text. This explanation has not received human editorial review. This overview describes the proposal’s major provisions; it does not establish what its real-world effects would be.
This proposal would exempt people from the requirement to maintain health coverage during periods when fewer than two insurers offer qualifying marketplace plans in their county. It would also expand federal health-coverage provisions to include the President, Vice President, political appointees, and additional congressional staff. For people covered by those provisions, it would prohibit specified government contributions toward coverage and limit financial assistance to amounts available to similarly situated people.
Any applicable individual for any period during a calendar year if there are fewer than 2 health insurance issuers offering qualified health plans on an Exchange for such period in the county in which the applicable individual resides.
by striking and congressional staff with and inserting , congressional staff, the President, the Vice President, and political appointees with
in subclause (II), by inserting after Congress, the following: of a committee of Congress, or of a leadership office of Congress,
No Government contribution under section 8906 of title 5, United States Code, shall be provided on behalf of an individual who is a Member of Congress, a congressional staff member, the President, the Vice President, or a political appointee for coverage under this paragraph.
An individual enrolling in health insurance coverage pursuant to this paragraph shall not be eligible to receive a tax credit under section 36B of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 or reduced cost sharing under section 1402 of this Act in an amount that exceeds the total amount for which a similarly situated individual (who is not so enrolled) would be entitled to receive under such sections.
Section 1 would name the bill the Protection from Obamacare Mandates and Congressional Equity Act.
This Act may be cited as the Protection from Obamacare Mandates and Congressional Equity Act.
Section 2 would add an exemption from the health-coverage requirement for an otherwise covered person during any period when their county has fewer than two insurers offering qualified health plans through an Exchange, meaning a health-insurance marketplace. The test concerns the number of insurers, rather than the number of plans.
Modifications to exemption from requirement to maintain health coverage
Section 5000A(e) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
Any applicable individual for any period during a calendar year if there are fewer than 2 health insurance issuers offering qualified health plans on an Exchange for such period in the county in which the applicable individual resides.
For that exemption, insurers treated as one employer under the specified tax-law rules would count as one insurer. The bill does not reproduce those rules for grouping employers.
For purposes of subparagraph (A), all health insurance issuers treated as a single employer under subsection (a) or (b) of section 52, or subsection (m) or (o) of section 414, shall be treated as a single health insurance issuer.
The Section 2 changes would apply to months beginning after enactment. Eligibility would depend on whether the county meets the insurer-count condition during the relevant period.
The amendments made by this section shall apply to months beginning after the date of the enactment of this Act.
Any applicable individual for any period during a calendar year if there are fewer than 2 health insurance issuers offering qualified health plans on an Exchange for such period in the county in which the applicable individual resides.
Section 3 would add the President, Vice President, and political appointees to the people named in an existing Affordable Care Act coverage provision for Congress and congressional staff. It would also add references to congressional committee and leadership-office staff. Because the existing provision is not reproduced in full, these amendments alone do not show its complete coverage rules.
Section 1312(d)(3)(D) of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (42 U.S.C. 18032(d)(3)(D)) is amended
by striking and congressional staff with and inserting , congressional staff, the President, the Vice President, and political appointees with
by striking or congressional staff shall and inserting , congressional staff, the President, the Vice President, or a political appointee shall
in subclause (II), by inserting after Congress, the following: of a committee of Congress, or of a leadership office of Congress,
The proposed definition of political appointee would cover people in the specified Executive Schedule positions; limited-term, limited-emergency, or noncareer Senior Executive Service appointees; and executive-branch employees in confidential or policy-determining Schedule C positions. These are specifically referenced categories of federal employment, rather than all executive-branch employees.
The term political appointee means any individual who— (aa) is employed in a position described under sections 5312 through 5316 of title 5, United States Code (relating to the Executive Schedule); (bb) is a limited term appointee, limited emergency appointee, or noncareer appointee in the Senior Executive Service, as defined under paragraphs (5), (6), and (7), respectively, of section 3132(a) of title 5, United States Code; or (cc) is employed in a position in the executive branch of the Government of a confidential or policy-determining character under schedule C of subpart C of part 213 of title 5 of the Code of Federal Regulations.
The government could not make contributions under the cited federal employee benefits statute toward coverage under this paragraph for members of Congress, congressional staff, the President, Vice President, or political appointees. The prohibition is specifically tied to that statutory contribution authority and that coverage.
No Government contribution under section 8906 of title 5, United States Code, shall be provided on behalf of an individual who is a Member of Congress, a congressional staff member, the President, the Vice President, or a political appointee for coverage under this paragraph.
People enrolling under the amended paragraph could not receive larger health-insurance tax credits or reductions in out-of-pocket costs than similarly situated people enrolling outside it. This sets a ceiling on assistance; it does not itself guarantee eligibility or prohibit all assistance.
An individual enrolling in health insurance coverage pursuant to this paragraph shall not be eligible to receive a tax credit under section 36B of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 or reduced cost sharing under section 1402 of this Act in an amount that exceeds the total amount for which a similarly situated individual (who is not so enrolled) would be entitled to receive under such sections.
Members of Congress would lose discretion to determine which employees of their own offices are eligible to enroll through a health-insurance marketplace.
a Member of Congress shall not have discretion in determinations with respect to which employees employed by the office of such Member are eligible to enroll for coverage through an Exchange.
Congress would be excluded from the cited definitions of “small employer” and “qualified employers” for enrollment in an Exchange or SHOP Exchange, the marketplace for small-employer coverage. The bill does not reproduce the surrounding employer-eligibility rules.
The terms small employer (as defined under section 1304(b)(2)) and qualified employers (as defined under subsection (f)) do not include the Congress, with respect to enrollments in an Exchange and a SHOP Exchange.
The supplied action snapshot, updated February 24, 2025, records introduction in the House on January 3, 2025, and referral that day to Ways and Means and additionally to Energy and Commerce, House Administration, and Oversight and Government Reform. It does not establish the bill’s status after that snapshot.
Source snapshot updated 2025-02-24T20:52:28Z.
2025-01-03: Introduced in House
2025-01-03: Referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committees on Energy and Commerce, House Administration, and Oversight and Government Reform, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
A closer look
Reviewed version: Introduced in House · 2025-01-03. These findings describe provisions and who may benefit; they are not judgments of waste, corruption, or motive.
This review covers the supplied bill text. “None identified” does not rule out provisions in later versions or accompanying reports and disclosures.
Provisions outside the bill’s main subject, or policy changes attached to appropriations.
None identified in the reviewed text
No unrelated provision or policy change attached to appropriations was identified in the complete supplied introduced text. This conclusion is limited to that version and does not establish absence in other versions or accompanying materials.
Spending directed to particular recipients or places outside ordinary competitive or formula-based allocation.
None identified in the reviewed text
No congressionally directed spending for a particular recipient or place was identified in the complete supplied introduced text. This conclusion is limited to that version; formal earmark disclosures and accompanying materials are not supplied.
Narrow exceptions, exemptions, or preferential treatment that warrant a closer look.
Findings to examine
The supplied introduced text contains a conditional exemption from the main coverage requirement. Identifying this targeted treatment is not a judgment about its justification.
People otherwise subject to the health-coverage requirement would receive a special exemption when fewer than two qualifying marketplace insurers serve their county during the relevant period. This is a geographically conditioned exception within the bill’s main policy, rather than an unrelated benefit. Insurers grouped under the specified employer rules would count as one.
Modifications to exemption from requirement to maintain health coverage
Any applicable individual for any period during a calendar year if there are fewer than 2 health insurance issuers offering qualified health plans on an Exchange for such period in the county in which the applicable individual resides.
For purposes of subparagraph (A), all health insurance issuers treated as a single employer under subsection (a) or (b) of section 52, or subsection (m) or (o) of section 414, shall be treated as a single health insurance issuer.
Full text preserved for this analysis. Legislative record snapshot: Feb 24, 2025. How PlainBill uses AI